I think the killing of women in Juarez is an issue that doesn't get enough repeated press. I too have seen articles on this subject from time to time in the past 5 years. But the killings are continuing, and there doesn't seem to be much of a momentum in reporting this issue. Is there any chance that Salon would want to do a more in-depth follow up on this issue?

As for the issue Robert brought up, I think your point about 25 women per year getting killed in a city of 1 million would be an accepted logic under ordinary circumstances. But what you are failing to recognize is that these deaths are not ordinary. Almost all of them involve the kidnapping and rape of young women by strangers. I seriously doubt that in any given city of 1 million people, it's "normal" that most of the women who turn up murdered were killed in that manner. The means of death is usually much more diverse: one was hit by a car, one was mugged on the way home, one was robbed in her house, two were killed in car crashes, ten were killed by their husbands/lovers in a domestic incident, etc. etc...

Statistically speaking, when you see a pattern of death occuring in one kind of population over and over, something is afoot. And when it continues to happen over a span of years, it points to some form of an institutionalized epidemic (i.e., causation reinforced by cultural attitudes and enabled by governmental failings/apathy/impotence).

Being a 31 year old poet, I found this article particularly disturbing since I can only imagine how assaulted all of her senses must have been during that violent moment (poets often experience the world with such a heightened awareness), and I'm sure her pain was great. I belong to a workshop for publishing poets, and am planning on mentioning Nadia and commemorating her life by reading a small excerpt I found of one of her poems. If anyone knows how I can find more of her poems, or her book, please post the info here.

Excerpt:

Even a mangy cur of the house barks now and then,

but over the mouths of women cheaply had,

there's a lock, a golden lock.

I posted a raving review for Salon's new Broadsheet section on the first day it came out. Then, I read the comments made by other readers. What a reality check.......

It's become disturbing and disheartening to me to see how venomous people became over devoting an entire section to "women's news". It had the flavor of a gender lynching. And I can't help but wonder if people would've reacted the same if a section had been created to focus on Hispanic news (an often underreported and forgotten segment of America's population).

Reading the posts also confirmed what I've long suspected - feminism STILL scares men, and many women who call themselves feminists refuse to acknowledge that any inequity still exists. Since many men and women who read Salon don't seem to acknowledge this inequity, it's no wonder this bright new bridge in reporting is causing their world order to crumble.

Hooray for Salon! I'm nothing short of THRILLED by the new Broadstreet section of Salon. Let's face it, postfeminism (if such a thing ever existed) is over. In these times, I've begun to feel that we need a new revolution. Indeed, I feel that we are now living in prefeminist times.

Salon devoting an entire section to women and the myriad issues we face (both serious and humorous) is a HUGE leap forward in acknowledging the disparity that exists in the media. Thank you for being visionary, and laying the first brick in the large foundation of what will hopefully become a trend towards reporting issues that affect half of the world's population.