"My house was shot at, at least 100 bullets. I was with my daughters, it was awful...From the moment this situation happens, you are no longer free. You lose everything: peace, a sense of safety, sleep."
woman searcher from Chilpancingo, Guerrero

Every day in Mexico, women risk their lives, their health, their families, their community relationships, and their own resources to search for their loved ones. Supporting their work is essential to help end the crisis of disappearances in the country. Mexico must guarantee the right to search. 

Araceli, Beatriz, Bibiana, Karla, Mary, María Isabel, and all the women who tirelessly search for missing persons are incredibly brave. They carry out their work in a context where the attacks they suffer often go unpunished, and no authority guarantees their safety.

Together with their communities and collectives, and in the absence of effective state action, they are helping to ensure truth and justice in a country with more than 128,000 recorded disappearances.

Women seeking help often bring their own, often limited, resources and exhaust themselves in the process—physically, mentally, and emotionally—with negative consequences for their health and relationships. Out of  600 women searchers interviewed by Amnesty International, 97% reported violence and threats while searching for disappeared persons. The most common risks include: threats (45%), extortion (39%), attacks (27%), forced displacement (27%), torture (10%), kidnapping (6%) and even sexual violence, disappearances and killings.

The Mexican government has the opportunity to assume its responsibility and ensure that women searchers can continue their work without fear of reprisals and with dignity.

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