Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa A.C. ("May Our Daughters Return Home, Civil Association")
is a
non-profit organization composed of mothers, family members, and friends of victims of the
female homicides in Ciudad Juárez. The mothers claim that their cases have gone unsolved in some cases for over 12 years. Their hope is to get the murderers of their daughters arrested and hopefully convicted.
Founding and purpose
The organization was co-founded by
Norma Andrade
Norma Esther Andrade is one of the founding members of Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa A.C., a Mexican people, Mexican non-profit association of mothers whose daughters have been victims of female homicides in Ciudad Juárez. Her daughter, Lilia A ...
, mother of
Lilia Alejandra Garcia Andrade, who was kidnapped on February 14, 2001, and found dead 10 days later. The other founder of NHRC is
Marisela Ortiz Rivera, Lilia's high school teacher turned activist. Many of the victims have been found to be poor working mothers employed in factories in
Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez ( ; ''Juarez City''. ) is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is commonly referred to as Juárez and was known as El Paso del Norte (''The Pass of the North'') until 1888. Juárez is the seat of the Juà ...
, which is located in the northwestern
Mexican state
The states of Mexico are first-level administrative territorial entities of the country of Mexico, which is officially named Mexico, United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a sepa ...
of
Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to:
Places
*Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state
**Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state
**Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state
**Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state
**Chihuahua Mun ...
, and is located across the
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the RÃo Bravo del Norte or simply the RÃo Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
The length of the Rio G ...
from the
U.S. city of
El Paso, Texas. Since 1993, female bodies have been found in the city of Juárez, and most of the cases remain unsolved. The group's mission is to put pressure on the Mexican government to fight impunity, solve the murders and counter-act the prevalence of femicide.
Reception and danger
Norma Andrade was shot at 5 times in an attempt to silence her. As prominent advocate and President and co-founder of NHRC, her and other women live in danger in Ciudad Juarez. The group is controversial as some politicians want the outrage and discourse to die down but the women continue to disappear, year after year. NHRC is an intersectional feminist group in Mexico that is the voice for the problematic subject that is the "Women of Juárez." The group says they will not stop fighting for the respect and dignity of the disappeared and murdered in Ciudad Juárez also known as Feminicidios. The group is composed of mothers of the victims of Femicide and continues to fight together and advocate for The Women of Juárez.
Prevalence of femicide
According to
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
, as of February 2005 more than 600 bodies had been found and over 800 women were still missing. In November 2005,
BBC News reported Mexico's
human rights ombudsman Luis Raúl González Pérez as saying that 28 women had been murdered so far in 2005.
In the media
Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa group was worked with filmmaker
Zulma Aguiar Zulma is a feminine given name that derives from the Ottoman Empire Sultan named Suleiman the Magnificent and some say it is also derives from the Hebrew "shâlôm", meaning "peace, completeness (in number), safety, soundness (in body), welfare, he ...
on a Juárez Documentary titled "
Juarez Mothers Fight Femicide," which was filmed in 2005.
In January 2010, UK Television News program
Channel 4 News broadcast a report from
Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez ( ; ''Juarez City''. ) is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is commonly referred to as Juárez and was known as El Paso del Norte (''The Pass of the North'') until 1888. Juárez is the seat of the Juà ...
in which a young girl told how she had been abducted by a gang of men and forced into prostitution. She told the program's reporter
Nick Martin how she had witnessed girls being murdered by the gang and how children were abducted and sold to order to American citizens. The report was recognized by the
Foreign Press Association as TV News Story of the Year in 2010 and prompted
US Immigration & Customs Enforcement
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
to launch a cross border investigation into the women's claims.
Femicide in Mexican law
In Mexico, femicide is typified in the Federal Penal Code in Article 325, from June 14, 2012, to the letter, defines this crime as:
"ARTICLE 325.- The crime of femicide is committed by one who deprives a woman of life for gender reasons. Gender reasons are considered to exist when any of the following circumstances exist:
CNDH Study
/ref>
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuestras Hijas De Regreso A Casa A.C.
Political organizations based in Mexico
Human rights in Mexico