>> your watching book tv on c-span two. top nonfiction books and authors every weekend, book tv television for serious readers. >> here are some programs to watch this weekend on book tv. missouri senator claire mccaskill talks about her life and political career on afterwards. then they way in a political issues and discusses issues on pleading guilty to violating campaign finance laws. a look look at the history and impact of the americans with disabilities act, also this

weekend barton swaim on his experiences as a speechwriter for former south carolina governor mark bamford. an account of the lives of people in the gulf coast during the american revolution and a british council turn spy in charleston, south carolina and the lead up to the war. for war. for complete schedule visit book tv.org. book tv, 48 hours of nonfiction books and authors, television for serious readers. >> now on book tv, and interview with amy admin of democracy now. we talk about the human rights violation happening in mexico, and the efforts to bring justice to the perpetrators. >> thank you i want to start by saying i'm sure all of my students will be really happy to get this assigned reading instead of some of the other articles that they have to read to learn about women's humans rights. it's really a very exciting

book, telling a very difficult story but in a way that i hope will make people understand better how human rights abuses affect everyday life and what it means to defend the defenders who are active on these issues. i also also want to say on a personal note, i grew up 200 miles north of juarez and new mexico, and and i used to go there in the 60s when it was a small and really lively town of markets and music. it's particularly touching for me and sad to have to read about and talk about sort of what i think has happened to the city, much of what is a sort of symbol of what globalization has done in many border towns around the world, and what free trade zones and changing norms have meant often in people's lives. it's also a study in the kind of

problems of our world today and what kind of resistance that is building. in particular, they asked me to say something about women's humans right defeat defenders work, my people have been doing for the last decade which grows out of 1998, which was the 50th anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights at the un when human rights organizations around the world held a huge conference and we had just been doing our campaign for women's rights and many of us who attended that realized that there is nothing in the university back coloration about gender specific abuse and about the ways women's in particular experience human rights abuse as defenders. so we began work what became an international campaign with frontline in many human rights organization, amnesty, and others along with a network of

women under muslim laws and other groups to build an understanding in the world of women's humans right defendants, particularly what women experience when they defend human rights. of course some of those are the same and when you read the book that many of the same things happen to women and men, but nonetheless, as with everything of the world they are gender specific ways in which that happens. we certainly all know about rate, and war and conflict and that has got much more attention but the kinds of sexual violence and sexual dating and use of women's sexuality as well as their roles as women, and their abusive human rights defenders is perhaps less well-known but the way in which women's are threatened and be legitimized in their communities because of their activism are particularly poignant for these conflicts.

also i think women over the last decade have begun to be recognized much more as central activists for human rights and therefore are experiencing a much more violent backlash against that activism. we see it here, in this in this book we see it throughout central america where the number of disappeared and presumably murdered women, genocide has been horrendous. we see it all over the world and on the urgent action, they tried to work with these women the things that i think are most important today and in this introduction is that while women may experience abuse in much the same way, it often has a different impact. women have way our ways of undermining the whole community so when there to attack for their defense, usually what happens is there role in the community means there are either a backlash against them, the

community wants them to go back to their traditional role, don't don't do this, don't threaten us or the attack on them becomes an attack on the roots of the community and the way that women around the world have represented culture and community. you see communities are undermined by women being attacked, killed, ostracized, so there are many different forms of violation, not just sexual attacks but also ways that women's motherhood is under attack, threats or to the children, are to the children, as a way to threaten them. i think all of these different forms of violation runs throughout the stories about what i want to end with is that the amazing amount of activism and defendant that women are doing, in almost every human right struggle today you see women, very much at the forefront, maybe not yet recognized as a leaders, but very much in this struggle and often in need of assistance but invisible.

i think this book is really important to show the kind of what women human rights defenders are doing, how important their defenses, and how important it is to remember that these are often women are often singled out because their existence, their willingness to cross over into an active role that doesn't necessarily go with what is expected of women, is itself a threats to those who want them to be silent. so with all that, i look forward to hearing from the interview and more about lucas stories and if you haven't please read it and give it to your children because it's great. >> [applause]. thank you. >> so will turn out for the program as you may have seen, will be recording for c-span book tv, were were very happy to have them with us tonight, when

we do the q&a i will bring you the microphone and i will ask you to be patient and wait till i come before you ask your question so we can have it for the recording. tonight, we are very lucky and honored to have amy goodwin with us who will be facilitating the discussion, amy is the host of democracy now that news program on television. and also on radio, and is broadcast as well as spanish, the translation the translation so covers both the worlds. joan is the writer and artist of the book and has really captured the stories incredibly well and you have a chance to look at it, luca castro of course is of course and one of the subjects of the book and her daughter will be doing the translation tonight and is an expert in gender issues. so with that will turn it over. thank you. >> thank you adam, and for for

your bravery in human rights activism over the years and to follow charlotte, is also a great great honored, we're actually just together a few weeks ago where almost 1000 women gathered at the hague in the netherlands. they gathered two commemorates, 100 years ago in that same place in 1915, 100015, 1000 woman speaks out against ward during world war i. it was the beginning of the founding of the women's knit international league of peace and freedom kind 100 years years later almost the same number gathered again from many different continents, among them for nobel peace prize winners, all of them women. it's a great honor to now come back home and to be with such a revered human rights defender,

every day blew joe's life is in danger, it is also beautiful to see her being translated by her daughter laura because she doesn't get to be with her family that much. she has chosen a different path and that is to protect, and in her community and in her region of mexico and chihuahua, which is courses just a wonderful legacy to leave to her children and grandchildren. i'm glad she is able to unite again tonight. lovely check, check, the story of lucci castro and human rights a mac company, this novel that is a drawn to written by john sackett should be written read by everyone. this makes human rights and the reality on the ground, expressible to young and old. that's where i want to begin is with what the story centers on,

which is story, lucia castro story talk about your organization and why you have chosen to live in one of the most dangerous places on earth, more dangerous than war-torn afghanistan, and chihuahua 97% of the murders go unsolved and yet you stay there? why? >> speaking in spanish. >> i only see myself, as a human

rights defender, like a a firefighter when there's a fire you go there and not but i want to get burnt but it needs to be there. at the dr. for instance he can decide to be there. in my state and a mexico there has been human rights violation so i need to be there.

and i started struggling and fighting for the murders that kill and we call them, the women who were there because we haven't yet incorporated the feminist theory and the gender-based murders. translator we were working with gender-based race in the human trafficking and chihuahua state has been the stay with the highest rate in the whole country. currently now there been girls who have been raped and then

after that people and their relatives of people who have been in force of disappearance knock on our doors. because their situation there are conflict and chihuahua and it hasn't been recognized as such by international organizations. so the invisible victims are the women, the girls, and then after that that the human rights i became a human rights defender for all of their human rights.

some other cases they are very personal, like they case she was murdered she was murdered right in front of a place where she was demonstrating and chihuahua. >> could we step back for a moment, how did you become lucia castro, where were you born, how did you end up becoming a lawyer? and being there and she while in it since.

>> when i was a kid i attended a school for girls that was and there was a big wall that would allow us to see what it was behind that wall so together with my other girlfriends we are always putting her hands together and helping one of the girls climb up so that she could see behind the ball is going on. i would call that game little foot operation so i felt very good at giving my hands for other girls to see out the world

but also telling the girls what was behind the walls and what was out there in the world. that dream has chased me all my entire life and that's how i became to the little foot for other women and girls, to help them. >> this amazing, graphic novel that you have done, can you talk about the frontline do. defenders series of this is the first of it and why you chose to focus on lucia castro? >> i have done some previous publications and i have been paid attention to what is going on in mexico for many years, adam approached me with a really

novel way of storytelling that i felt, i think his intuition on this was really spot on and that it does something i think normal media has, and also arts, has in terms of maybe having an emotional impact of telling stories that don't often get told. so adam approached me and we thought of some other places because they operate many different places around the world, we have floated some ideas and i had to in the back of my mind, inking about mexico and i suggested maybe we should do something about northern mexico and he the frontline worked with lou chan have very good contacts and so logistically, they put it together and personally i'm looking forward to going forward

with more of the, because i think i think touching on, i believe that it's touching a nerve in some ways in terms of telling the story but they don't often get aired and be they do so in a sort of emotional way. an uncle of mine told me, maybe you heard this expression before but it was novel to me, that nobody marched in washington because of the statistic meaning stories that make people riled up and touch people. >> give us the opening illustration, cartoons in this book where you chose to begin. >> it's kinda strange the way the book progresses from front to back is almost identical to how i drew the entire thing. so the prologue that scene at

the border, when that happened i was sitting in the back of a car and i happen to admit that the situation was so perfect, i immediately took took out my no pack and took down the conversation. >> so explain what you're doing, you are driving from juarez. >> correct we were driving lucia and her companion who is another activists, they often have meetings in el paso texas and it was a constant to and from between mexico and the us, this is just one of the meetings we're passing through the border. i think it was the first time i had been in the car with adam as well, and it was this random, border guard who struck up a conversation about global human rights politics with a line of about 300 cars behind us. so i felt that conversation was really fitting, a fitting intro,

i i think i just got lucky they kinda talked about human rights in mexico. >> and he said what are you doing here, why why are you coming into the united states? i may talked about human rights violations and he said are there human rights violation question mark. >> yes see if i can do it in a way he did it, what there's human rights violations in mexico? my jaw dropped and i was like wow, kinda just provided me with some choice of material. >> and he said is it works than somalia? >> and i was just kind of he really wanted to talk about it, he just folded his arms and leaned back and wanted to have a discussion on these issues, it was a bit awkward that way. >> so lutra, lucia, how did you get your name?

the graphic novel is called by lucia which is means struggle and that is your name. >> my real name is lou and my nickname is a lucia so the nickname is lucia,. >> so we all know about the women killian's and whereas, but i don't think most people in the united states do know, can you give us the context of the violence against women aim chihuahua, in warez, who is committing it? is anyone held responsible?

>> so it's a lot of things in community corruption, human trafficking but also in the context where they think women are not worth anything and and there a lot of assembly factories that are concerted that women are considered merchandise. so also a lot of them offer things to women and they start working and men are stay-at-home

challenging the gender roles and a lot of domestic violence also starts there. if there's an occupation that you see there wasn't any policies to understand what these men were going to do there in this context and with all of this. >> on democracy now i remember covering a few years ago in 2010 when the front-page editorial

published that a young photographer of the paper was shot dead and on the front-page story was simply explained to us what you want from us? >> and other problem we have right now is the presence of organized crime, it's very present balint and we all know that when there's trafficking and weapons and drugs there's also trafficking of women. it's very profitable.

so the population and 60% of drug consumers in chihuahua goes through them and before when drugs are seen as a health problem then there was a completely different approach, when the drug consumption started to be approaching security problem then it completely changed and that's when it started with initiatives

and a lot of weapons started coming to mexico and this approach change. we say that the us have weapons. >> a talk about some of the women human rights defenders, who you have worked with who have been targeted and have lost their lives.

>> speaking in spanish. >> so it really touched me and i was very close to her, she was demonstrating on the office of the government's and in another case a women's right active vest in mexico and they murdered her violently. another environmental human rights defender was murdered two years ago because they were working on a project that was carried out by a mining company so all the murders of my

colleagues, they had me worried but at the same time i feel very welcome at other places. and another defender from mexico we were together in europe and it was frontlines and we are always together and when she went back to mexico she was killed. >> can i ask you, you're here to translate for your mother, what is it like to have lucia as your mother? and usually it's the mother who is deeply worried about her children and grandchildren, but in this case you live in washington, your mother stays into allah.

>> i feel very proud and everybody when they tell me that she's amazing, and she's my mom i feel super proud. i say i have my own history of not only the daughter of her but at the same time i just have sometimes nightmares that arm people come to my house and i call her and say are you okay? i just have nightmares that a lot of children have about their mother being killed or getting it to their house and armed people going to their houses. i have that nightmare a lot. >> and lieutenant now what campaign are you working on, what is the mexican government doing and what do you think the united states should be doing?

or are some human rights commitments the mexican government has to do, no follow-up to their commitment. the agreement has been limited to transfer of weapons and

military equipment and military collaboration. the lives of boys and girls who have been affected so more follow-up with human rights commitment. [speaking spanish] >> and also that that is more powerful in believe, when i talk about the mafia i am talking about organized crime and government because there is a coalition between the government and the mafia. >> [speaking spanish]

>> and also there's no stimulation from the government of the outside of the government and the mexican government presents itself for human rights, violating human rights. seeing the real face of the mexican government and mexican government officials, against torture when he said torture in mexico is prevalent. >> the story that is unfolding now of the 43 students who have disappeared, many parents refuse to accept that they are dead in

the court -- acumen caravan to demand investigation into what has happened to their son, 43 young men in school, how does that story fit into what you are dealing with? [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] >> disappearance of the 43 students, to raise awareness and

appearances. >> [speaking spanish] >> 350 families of young men. >> what do you say to the u.s. government, to president obama, millions of dollars of weapons and aid to the mexican government. >> to fight drug trafficking and drug cartels. and where these would actually go. [speaking spanish]

[speaking spanish] >> providing directly weapons to organized crime because there is a collusion between the government and organized crime and i cannot explain the power organized crime and doug -- drug cartels have without the pollution they are in. [speaking spanish] speaking gen

also everything they do to them before they are killed but also for instance women who died because they don't have access to legal abortions or also basic services that cause women to die. heat crimes again, women. >> i will open the floor to

questions but before i do, i want to ask john how you organize the book beginning with lucha castro's letter and her son's letter to her. and how you broke it up. challenge this idea of the statistics. each chapter is the name of a woman. >> i have to admit the structure of the book was primarily done -- >> the story you would like to tell, how you ellis traded it. of one of the women here and how you went about telling her story. >> we met her son in el paso. it is in the book as well. i had a brief encounter with him

over a series of meetings and interviews we sat down and had an interview and he speaks fluent english so it was very easy to bounce some ideas and ask a lot of questions and the way he told his story i think by virtue of having had to repeat his story many times told it in for me a very linear fashion and it was really easy to start illustrating the, so for each page there is a lot of research, each trying and based only on my own photographs and notes but also references to places i haven't been to and so there was a lot of going on my google street map, for each page

building up the database between 40 to 60 images and finding a balance between words and images as well so there is not perhaps a repetition of what is being drawn but to have an interplay between the two. >> the story, if you can tell us more in detail, why for examples the chapter begins with headlines in newspapers around the world. [speaking spanish] >> lost her daughter, she was only 16 years old and like many

cases, never looked for her. and the lehman rights defenders and activists looking for her daughter. [speaking spanish] >> she walks everyday from the police station to where the trials are happening and only herself with a sign of her daughter and up photograph of her daughter and nothing else and little hard with her granddaughter, the granddaughter.

[speaking spanish] >> every time i saw her i couldn't believe a grandmother was there by herself walking every day many kilometers with her granddaughter and she thought yourself if i were there i would be with her and help her carry that divers with the baby. [speaking spanish] >> after, the killer of her daughter, she had confessed and looked for me and asked her to be my lawyer. [speaking spanish]

>> she was very special because she traveled to mexico city 1500 kilometers looking for the murder of her daughter. [speaking spanish] >> before she was murdered i went to the office of the attorney-general, she started to talk and point to the police officers that we're protecting the person who killed her daughter and i said they are going to kill her if they didn't protect her and they killed her. >> how did they kill her?

[speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] >> she is demonstrating in front of the office of the governor and the person came with a gun and tried to shoot her and she ran to the office of the governor where they closed the doors and she died in front of the office. >> you continue to be there to stand out, to represent, to stand up for women in chihuahua. [speaking spanish]

>> when i come to this, i think about so many other victims, they give me strength to continue. [speaking spanish] >> i will continue telling their story. >> anyone have comments or questions? >> you are an incredibly brave lady. have there been any attempts on your life? do you have protection? [speaking spanish]

>> human rights, provisional measures for the risk and when i go to trial i go protected. [speaking spanish] >> i have fear because the last case i presented at the trial, people who were protecting the were saying there were people from organized crime around the area. [speaking spanish]

>> a lot of women in other parts of the world are looking to the human rights defenders in mexico and the mesoamerica and women human rights defenders strategy's for how women can defend themselves or help to defend themselves and i wonder if you could share some of the strategy is that you have developed as a group for defense and confronting the government to demand the government accountability for your defense. [speaking spanish]

[speaking spanish] >> what you were saying at the beginning of your speech for women it is harder because we are challenging empowerment and activism, and go out to the streets, to the machismo. >> [speaking spanish] >> international visibility, we will present the organization for american states increasing the cost for the mexican government. [speaking spanish] >> that initiative. [speaking spanish]

>> take care of ourselves to avoid -- >> [speaking spanish] >> always listening every day. and continue to working. [speaking spanish] >> john, were you afraid when you were down in el paso, one of the safest places in the country to one of the most dangerous places in the world crossing the border? >> i was nervous i think one of the things i tried to convey in the book was a sense of menace. or instability because we kept hearing every morning we would

wake up from breakfast and to lucha castro or her sister would tell stories of what was happening at the center, there were gunfights happening, there were things happening all around that they were not -- people were not seeing them but we knew we'd they were happening so it created this atmosphere that was knocked -- wasn't distracting but it was a little intimidating. >> what exactly is it about chihuahua that attracts these criminal elements? [speaking spanish]

[speaking spanish] >> chihuahua seems to be -- two hours to the united states through traffic drops and a lot of resources and transnational exploiting of natural resources that we have there and the lot of things. [speaking spanish] >> the border with texas and new mexico. chihuahua is big. >> the national -- [speaking spanish]

>> a canadian company was -- [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] >> i am absolutely sure. we have filed a canadian company that hired organized crime to kill our two colleagues that were opposing the project. canada is doing mining that is not allowed in canada. they are doing that in mexico. >> i work with global fund for

women. i want to say thank you for your incredible work and inspiration and everything you do. i wonder if you have anything you could share if you hope something small in your own world tour in the word that you do, other defenders in other parts of the world. [speaking spanish] >> my grandchildren i have five and i want to make a better world for them. [speaking spanish] >> empowered women get to their

child and they're fighting for their own rights. [speaking spanish] >> when i win the cases and the impunity that reduces the impunity and improved access for justice for women. [speaking spanish] >> i don't feel i am on my own and there are many people i am interested in and -- [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] >> he gave me hope for young men who came to chihuahua, they

didn't speak spanish, i didn't speak english and they were a little crazy but i think that is what the world needs. [speaking spanish] >> they were next to me every day like big brother. and that is how it works, thank you. >> how do you hope to use this? [speaking spanish] >> i am already using it to raise awareness of the work we are doing and to support other human rights defenders. [speaking spanish] >> for instance in your press

release for the government in new york and washington presenting this book. >> how does it feel to be presented as a cartoon heroine? and [speaking spanish] >> now i have a new look so they have to do another book. >> thank you for -- [speaking spanish] your sense of humor and affirmation of life. all the struggles. [speaking spanish]

[speaking spanish] >> just wanted to ask about the international mechanisms for human rights. in chihuahua where other people work or setting aside gender crimes in mexico. [speaking spanish]

>> [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] >> so we do a lot with international mechanisms, we right shadow reports and engage

in conversations with human rights defenders and document cases and fred so that we can grade the profile to international agencies and also now there is an international mechanism that mexican government has to protect human rights defenders holding them accountable for that. >> just as adam comes up to close i wanted to share the words of martin sheen. it provides vital information, inspiring words, one heart with courage. [applause] >> i want to thank you for coming this evening, i think lucha castro and laura and john

and amy. making her contribution and support for the event, for $20. and the money we earn from the book goes directly back to supporting human rights defenders at risk for security programs that have books over here for sale. lucha castro is happy -- bring up to them and that is great. until 8:00 and we get out and appreciate your support for coming up tonight and did you want to know more about front-line defenses we have a booklet about our work. my colleague charlie is here and if you have questions please come to us and thank you for coming and thank you to