"Crimes Against the Order of the Family, Public Morality, and Decency": Sexual Violence and Jurisprudence in Coahuila, Mexico, 1871-1931 Sandra Elizabeth Lara
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University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository History ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations 8-25-2016 "Crimes against the Order of the Family, Public Morality, and Decency": Sexual Violence and Jurisprudence in Coahuila, Mexico, 1871-1931 Sandra Elizabeth Lara Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hist_etds Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Lara, Sandra Elizabeth. ""Crimes against the Order of the Family, Public Morality, and Decency": Sexual Violence and Jurisprudence in Coahuila, Mexico, 1871-1931." (2016). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hist_etds/44 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in History ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Sandra E. Lara Candidate History Department This dissertation is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication: Approved by the Dissertation Committee: Kimberly Gauderman , Chairperson Linda Hall Barbara Reyes Sonya Lipsett-Rivera i “CRIMES AGAINST THE ORDER OF THE FAMILY, PUBLIC MORALITY, AND DECENCY": SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND JURISPRUDENCE IN COAHUILA, MEXICO, 1871-1931 by SANDRA E. LARA B.A., University of Texas at Dallas, 1999 M.A., History, Texas Woman's University, 2005 DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy History The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico July, 2016 ii DEDICATION Agradezco a Elohim, sin su amor, sabiduría, fidelidad, y favor esta obra no existiría. Dedico esta disertación para mi familia, en especial mi madre, Rosa María Sánchez Zamora y mis dos tesoros, Isabella Montserrat y Sebastian Mikel. En memoria de mis bisabuelos, Antonio Sánchez Cortes, minero de la Rosita y Florinda Lara de Sánchez. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge the academic and professional support that I received from my entire dissertation committee. I was very fortunate to work with amazing scholars who have dedicated their lives to producing rigorous historical scholarship. Two members in particular helped guide me through my entire doctoral program: my adviser, Dr. Kimberly Gauderman and Dr. Linda Hall. Dr. Gauderman’s passion for women’s issues and her unwavering encouragement kept me focused as I worked through various drafts. I am especially thankful to Dr. Hall’s guidance from th e start of my doctoral program. Committee members Dr. Barbara Reyes assisted me in obtaining invaluable teaching opportunities in the Department of Women Studies, all of which helped me develop theoretical ideas about gender and violence. Despite the long distance separating us, Dr. Sonya Lipsett-Rivera kept in touch via telephone calls and email to offer valuable feedback. Funding for this study came from different sources. I benefitted from multiple years of funding from the Center of Regional Studies (CRS) under former director Dr. Tobias Duran. I also owe special thanks to Marina Cadena at the CRS. Grants from the Hispanic Women’s Council Scholarship, Feminist Research Institute, Graduate Professional Student Association, Office of Graduate Studies, and the Latina/o Graduate & Professional Student Fellowship enabled me to carry out numerous archival trips. In my last year of study, the UNM-Andrew Mellon Doctoral Completion Fellowship allowed me the opportunity to focus on my dissertation. iv Thanks to Magistrate Gregorio Alberto Pérez Mata, Supreme Tribunal of Justice, for granting me access to the criminal files used to carry out this study. Archivists and staff at the following institutions were also extremely helpful: María del Rosario Villareal and Ernesto Terry, Archivo Municipal de Saltillo; Ing. Jesús de la Garza, Archivo General del Poder Judicial; María de Lourdes Ángel Torres, Archivo del Congreso del Estado de Coahuila; Patricia Martínez García, Archivo Municipal de Sabinas; and to Nancy Brown-Martínez at UNM’s Center for Southwest Research. Friends and mentors at the University of New Mexico provided encouragement. I am especially grateful to Dr. Leila Flores-Dueñas, who adopted me as her student and who spent countless hours discussing this project with me. Dr. Adriana Ramírez de Arrellano provided encouragement. Dr. Alicia Romero and Dr. Claudia Lombana read and commented on drafts. Jim Wagner’s good cheer and timely editing suggestions saved me from many blunders. Carlyn Pinkins and C. Estela Vasquez Guzman gave me many good suggestions. My sincere appreciation to my good friend, Marcial Martínez for the many meaningful conversations we have had over the years. Marcial, Kathleen McIntyre, and Melissa White made my journey at UNM fun! Finally, I am thankful to my immediate and extended family. Gracias a Misael Menchaca, for accompanying me on numerous trips; my suegra, Aurora Díaz; sister-in- law, Blanca Menchaca, for housing me during my trips to the archives; my brother, Daniel, for his love; Pastor Ruben Guajardo, emeritus; and to Pastor Carlos Ruiz and members of Nueva Cosecha in Dallas for their prayers. But above all, to my mother, Rosa, it is her sacrifices that allowed me to fulfill my academic dreams. The shortcomings of this work are, of course, all mine. A todos: ¡mil gracias! v “CRIMES AGAINST THE ORDER OF THE FAMILY, PUBLIC MORALITY, AND DECENCY”: SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND JURISPRUDENCE IN COAHUILA, MEXICO, 1871-1931 By Sandra E. Lara B.A., Psychology, University of Texas at Dallas, 1999 M.A., History, Texas Woman’s University, 2005 Ph.D., History, University of New Mexico, 2016 ABSTRACT This study focuses on how institutions, the law, and litigants of sexual crimes interpreted estupro (seduction/deflowering), rape, and incest crimes in the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila during 1871-1931. The dissertation explores the diverse ways that liberal legislation proved disadvantageous to women and especially young girls. By taking a regional approach, I examine the role that Coahuila’s courtroom practices and laws had on the adjudication of sexual crimes. I argue that despite the liberal lawmakers’ intents to modernize criminal law, women and children were not protected from sexual predators. During the study’s period, two pieces of national legislation that governed penal law were passed—the national 1871 Criminal Code and its revised version, the 1931 Criminal Code. Coahuilense legislators modified the national 1871 Criminal Code, creating Coahuila’s 1900 Criminal Code, which remained in effect in Coahuila until 1932. However, Coahuila’s 1900 Criminal Code reduced the severity of penalties for sexual crimes. To access for how Coahuilense families, offended women, and defendants constructed their own notions of sexual honor and morality, I examined 282 criminal cases. In the majority of cases litigants claimed that the sexual crime was an offense vi against their familial honor. In some trials involving child sexual crimes, the families labeled those as crimes against public morality and good customs. The majority of sexual victims were perpetrated against victims who were 18-years old and younger, which represent 63 percent of the litigants in this study. Yet, only 31 cases resulted in a punishment. Youth appeared to influence the prosecution of sexual crimes since 87 percent of the cases that received a guilty verdict involved a victim 18 and younger. However, the majority of case outcome resulted in acquittals often influenced by judiciary biases toward poor, educated, especially rural families, and female-headed households. Estupro and rape cases were also negatively impacted by high evidentiary burden of proof, the arbitrary judicial application of legal elements, and discriminatory courtroom practices. Consequently, the majority of litigants were not protected by criminal law. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................x INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................1 Sources and Methodology......................................................................................................9 Relevant Literature: Legal History, Gender History, and Sexual Violence ..........................15 Legal and Gender History ......................................................................................................16 Crime in Mexico, Class, and Race .........................................................................................21 Sexual Violence .....................................................................................................................25 Overview of Chapters ............................................................................................................29 CHAPTER 1: COAHUILA’S LEGISLATIVE AND JUDICIARY APPARATUS: CONGRESS, COURTS, AND LEGAL PHILOSOPHY IN COAHUILA .....................33 The Quest for a Criminal Code: Law during the Early Republic in Coahuila .......................36 Enacting the Civil Code and Code for Civil Procedures .......................................................38 Modifying the Code for Criminal Procedures .......................................................................39 Comparative View of the Prosecution of Sexual Crimes ......................................................40 Criminal Proceedings in Coahuila .........................................................................................42