Mhxelamh

I am interested in issues of violence and immigration in the northern triangle countries of Central America, particularly Guatemala. I would like to incorporate more youth representation or possibly gender-related violence against youths in the region, such as femicide.

Proposal

For my Wikipedia project this semester I plan to edit the page titled Crime in Guatemala. Overall, I could add more information and a youth perspective on criminal processes in Guatemala, because the lead paragraph is very short and few articles are referenced throughout given the vast literature on the topic. I would like to dedicate a paragraph or two to youth representation in particular, especially in light of the violent conditions of youth lives which spurred a surge of tens of thousands of children migrating to the United States from Guatemala as well as El Salvador and Honduras.

The two sections of the existing article include "Crime dynamics" and "Drug trafficking," and I would like to incorporate youth perspectives into both. First of all, the article very briefly mentions the status of violence in the wake of Guatemalan Civil War. I want to offer some pertinent information about the dynamics of the war, specifically the manner in which university students were sought out and often disappeared by military officials. Then I could add an explanation of Guatemala’s normalization of violence against youth to the article’s account of the violent conditions of post-war Guatemala. Regarding the discussion on drug trafficking, the absence of youth represents a glaring gap in the article. An abundance of resources exists relating to the gang influence in Central American countries, which I feel should be reflected in this page. Also, sometimes there exists a difference between drug trafficking organizations and street gangs that the public often does not acknowledge, so I could make that differentiation while exploring the various forms of organized crime that pressure youth into membership.

I would also like to specifically address the phenomenon of violence against young women in Guatemala. Femicide, homicide committed solely based on the victim’s identification as female, is is quite prevalent in this country. There is another page I also considered editing, called Violence against women in Guatemala, which I would like to link to Crime in Guatemala. Therefore more users would come across it so that more potential editors will understand that the page on woman-based violence must be further expanded.

Articles

Bruneau, Thomas. 2014. "Pandillas and Security in Central America. "Latin American Research Review." 49(2): 152-172.

Carey, David, Jr and M. G. Torres. 2010. "PRECURSORS TO FEMICIDE: Guatemalan Women in a Vortex of Violence." Latin American Research Review 45(3):142-164,278,280.

Fregoso, Rosa Linda. 2010. Terrorizing women: feminicide in the Américas. Durham: Duke University Press.

Kurtenbach, Sabine. 2014. "Postwar Violence in Guatemala: A Mirror of the Relationship between Youth and Adult Society." International Journal of Conflict and Violence 8(1):119-133.

McEvoy-Levy, Siobhán. 2006. Troublemakers or Peacemakers?: Youth and Post-Accord Peace Building. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press.

Menjivar, Cecilia. 2014. "Thinking about Violence." Society 51(4), 401-403.

UNHCR. 2014. "Children on the Run: Unaccompanied Children Leaving Central America and Mexico and the Need for International Protection."

Vrana, Heather. 2012. "Revolutionary Transubstantiation in 'The Republic of Students.'" Radical History Review (114): 66-90.

Winton, A. 2005. "Youth, gangs and violence: Analysing the social and spatial mobility of young people in Guatemala City." Children's Geographies." 3(2): 167-184.