Funds and Representation for unjustly incarcerated women

In the state of Guanajuato, all forms of abortion are illegal except in the case of rape. Despite this exception, no woman has ever received a legal abortion in the state. Women who seek abortions illegally are penalized with one to three years in prison (even rape victims) and since 2000, 150 women have been arrested and served time for this “crime.” Along with these women, 7 women who delivered stillborn fetuses have been accused by authorities and physicians of intentionally aborting their children, tried and imprisoned for alleged infanticide. Because these women are poor, with little education and no knowledge of the legal system in Mexico, they had no means of defending themselves against these accusations and are now imprisoned because of crimes they didn’t commit. Instead of being tried under abortion laws, these women were penalized for homicide and will spend between 25-40 years in prison instead of the normal abortion sentence of 1-3. On top if the injustice in their incarceration and excessive punishments, some of these women were rape victims. These women, in the eyes of the machista culture here and in the eyes of the politicians in Guanajuato, have no rights and no voices. The violation of the human rights is of no concern because their social status, gender and education level render them undeserving of the inherent freedoms guaranteed to all individuals by international law.

Centro Las Libres has visited these women biweekly for several years now, studying the facts of their cases, learning to their stories, and developing relationships with both the women and their families. After much work, we are finally ready to appeal their cases to a federal court. Working with an accomplished lawyer from Mexico City*, Centro las Libres appealed the case of one woman earlier this year. Upon receiving the fifty-page appeal, the federal court immediately mandated her release and her unjust 28-year sentence ended after only 3 years. The lawyer who collaborated with Las Libres to free this woman pro bono, but unfortunately the other cases will cost up to 500,000 pesos (around $39,000 US) for each case. In addition to the immeasurable amount of work Las Libres has done, researching, preparing information, providing moral and emotional support for the women and collaborating with the lawyer from Mexico city, this year Las Libres has taken on the raising of these funds on as its largest project. The women at Las Libres, the interns and the volunteers work day and night to ensure that these women have a voice and that their rights are realized.