Linguistic rights, translation, and State-sponsored violence in Mexican prisons

Abstract

This article examines linguistic violence experienced by incarcerated indigenous-language speaking women in Mexico. Drawing from a survey of incarcerated individuals, we demonstrate that, despite constitutional guarantees for language access, non-Spanish speakers often lack access to translation services. This deprivation is a form of linguistic violence. Furthermore, we find that such linguistic violence correlates with predatory behavior from authorities—specifically physical and sexual violence. This predatory behavior is reported more frequently by female indigenous-language speakers than any other group. We propose two reasons why this might be the case: limited Spanish proficiency traps these women in prolonged legal limbo, increasing their interactions with potentially abusive authorities, and the language barrier fosters isolation, hindering their ability to report abuses. This phenomenon illustrates how linguistic violence can lead to physical violence.