Verónica Cruz Sánchez (born 1971) was the first Mexican human rights activist to be ónicaCruzSáawarded the Defender of Human Rights award from Human Rights Watch. In 2006, she was awarded the honor for her work with women's right to access legal and medical services. She brings public awareness to the situation of predominantly uneducated, indigenous and impoverished women who are imprisoned for abortion and miscarriage in Mexico. Cruz has worked to decriminalize and de-stigmatize women's decisions over their bodies and reproductive rights. She is founder of Las Libres, an organization dedicated to the defense, guarantee and respect of human rights for women in the state of Guanajuato and across Mexico.
History
She was born in 1971 in León, Guanajuato and while still in high school spent her evenings going door to door to teach women to read and write. In the process, she learned stories of the violence they suffered and knew she had found her life’s work.
Cruz pursued a degree in social work from the José Cardijn School of Social Work in León and later obtained a B.A. in International Commerce from the Instituto Politécnico Nacional. She studied a Masters in Organizational Development at the University of Guanajuato. After graduating, she worked as a social worker in a preschool and at an organization called Rural Development of Guanajuato, which is now defunct. In 1995, Cruz began working as regional (and then a national) coordinator for a network of NGOs under the umbrella of the feminist organization Millennium.
Body self-determination
In 2001 she and other activists founded an organization called Las Libres (the Free Women) to advocate for women's rights to make decisions about their bodies, their reproductive choices and their sexuality. She has been active in promoting free and safe abortions to victims of rape and incest, though in many states of Mexico, incest is seen as a consensual, rather than a criminal, relationship.
Cruz was the first Mexican human rights activist to be awarded the Defender of Human Rights award from Human Rights Watch. In 2006, she was awarded the honor for her work with women's right to access legal and medical services.
To reduce the stigma of abortion, Cruz developed a program where trained volunteers accompany women throughout their medical procedures lending them support. Counseling services are available, as well as physical support whether they have decided to terminate a pregnancy outside the formal health system or in a clinic in Mexico City. Mexico City is the only place in the nation where an abortion can be obtained for a pregnancy which was not the result of rape. In 2014, Cruz produced a short documentary film, Accompaniment, to demonstrate how the model they have developed is used to both support women and reduce stigma.
The Guanajuato Seven
In 2008, she and other activists began interviewing women who were incarcerated and collected statistics on the reasons for their imprisonment. They discovered that women were being imprisoned for up to 30 years in some cases under a charge of "aggravated homicide of a family member." In reviewing the law code, Cruz discovered that this offense was not a crime which was defined in the legal statutes. Cruz and Las Libres assisted in funding and support for the 2010 legal proceedings that reduced the sentences of the women to 3 years, which all had already served, and reformed state legislation. The women were not exonerated, but their punishments were deemed to be excessively punitive. In 2014, Cruz co-produced a documentary telling the stories of these women entitled Las Libres la historia después de (The Free [Women]: The Story Continues).