About Women at War: Mexico

“Women in many circles are not viewed as persons of value, [they] are viewed as property under the ownership of other persons, whether that's organised crime, whether that's their father or their spouse”- Nicole Ramos, Lawyer, Al Otro Lado.

Centred in one of the most violent cities in the country, Tijuana, a metropolis on the US border where the death toll from 2023 already stands at over six hundred, this film weaves together the themes of murder, migration, and the missing.

Alex meets the migrant women fleeing cartel bloodshed in the South of Mexico, stuck in Tijuana waiting to cross into America, each one having faced extraordinary levels of violence at the hands of men. She’s then first on the scene of a brutal femicide, symptomatic of a country where on average ten women and girls are killed each day.

She also meets the mothers leading the search for their disappeared children in a country where twenty-four thousand women are missing and the number of girls vanishing each year is rapidly increasing. Alex accompanies Olga and Alvaro searching for their daughter Selina across the city, at the beach, and in the vast scrubland that stretches for miles.

But this film is as much about the individual women in Tijuana fighting for change. It features the young, vibrant Mayor, Montserrat Caballero Ramírez, who is on one end of the fight against underage trafficking in her city. Alma Tucker is on the other end, taking these girls off the streets into her safe house. Alex also meets the lawyers and community leaders trying to transform a society so desensitised to the violence that has become an accepted part of life to so many.

Alex Crawford, Sky News Special Correspondent, said: “Good, revelatory journalism is all about getting to the real heart of the story however unpalatable - and it is one of the fundamental beliefs at Sky News. Our Women at War series takes viewers to some of the most dangerous and hostile places in the world, to countries and cities where women often fall victim to abuse, silencing and murder at the hands of men. In Mexico we witnessed an epidemic of violence fuelled by the drug cartels which is leaving thousands of women missing or murdered.”

The Women at War docuseries debuted last year with the first film centred around Afghanistan. Women at War: Afghanistan reports from one of the most oppressive regimes in the world, and sees Alex make contact with the informal networks of women’s resistance groups struggling to maintain their basic human rights, their freedom and their identity.

The third film in the series will focus on Yazidi women and will be filmed in both Syria and Iraq. It will be released later this year.

How to watch
The documentary will air on Monday 3rd July at 9pm on Sky Documentaries and on Tuesday 4th July at 9pm on Sky News (Freeview channel 233, Sky 501, Virgin 603, BT 313).