Re: Structural Interventions

Posted by TJResearcher on December 13, 2000 at 08:07:17:

In Reply to: Re: Theory/Methods posted by RickFeliz on December 13, 2000 at 02:06:43:

At this point, I can see a couple... Migration to Tijuana is often from extremely poor areas in Southern Mexico and Central America... An appropriate structural intervention would develop local industries to prevent migration in the first place (job opportunities for women being primary). This can mean creating more industries, or opening current industries to women (ie. preventing gender discrimination). The World Bank is good about funding these kind of interventions. (A real proposal is a few years down the road -- ideally, I would select a group of women that migrated to Tijuana from a particular area, find out about that area by living there for a while and doing some research, and then coming up with something with local grassroots activists...) Other possibilities: In TJ itself - sex work is ok, but its better if women have a number of viable alternatives are available to women. Women's employment alternatives in TJ are limited because of lack of skills and gender discrimination in some of the more lucrative industries. Working on that is a huge issue, and I would take a step by step approach. Get a non-profit to fund reading/writing skills, english, managerial training, entreprenuership, etc. Women who work in the zona work hard. It would have to be something that is worth their while short term as well as long term. Not all women want to leave sex work either. But-- many of those skills can increase their income no matter what kind of work they do. Some grassroots organizations along the border are already providing this kind of service to female factory workers... There are really all sorts of things one can do at a national/policy level. I do know that Mexico doesn't have a great track record in funding these sorts of things, but raising their awareness is key -- and being able to obtain funding from elsewhere is essential. Thats kind of where I step in. With my training and credentials I should be able to help get these sorts of things going. But first, I want to know what "las chicas" see as significant changes....

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