Voices from the Barbed Wires of Despair, Women in the Maquiladoras, Latina Critical Theory and Gender at the U.S. Mexico Border

This article discusses the situation of women workers (including migrant workers) in maquiladoras, or assembly plants, located near the border between the US and Mexico. The author grounds her approach in Latina critical legal theory in order to examine how maquildoras perpetuate systemic racial and sexual exploitation of women and girls at the border. Job structure, sex segmentation, pay equity and human rights issues at maquiladoras are analyzed as the author argues that while maquiladoras have increased women's participation in the Mexican labour market, they have failed to improve the quality of life for women workers. The author also situates her discussion of maquiladoras within a larger discussion of the US-Mexico border, smuggling, NAFTA and American border policies. [Descriptors: Migration - Labour Migration, International]