México Is More Dangerous Than Ever For Women's Rights Activists
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As cartel- and corruption-related violence increases in México, journalists and activists are increasingly targeted. Among these horrors, but less reported-on, are the outspoken women’s rights activists whose willingness to be visible and lack of fear makes them a target. Last month, Nadia Vera became the 36th women’s rights advocate to be murdered since 2010.
The Guardian reports that Vera, a Chiapas-born 32-year-old who “wrote poems, staged dance workshops and theatre productions, and participated in street protests to demand political and social change,” was “raped, tortured, and shot in the head” July 31, along with her photojournalist friend Rubén Espinosa; her roommates Yesenia Quiroz and Mile Virginia Martín; and Alejandre Negrete, who was cleaning the apartment at the time.
Both Espinosa and Vera were seeking refuge in México City (DF), having fled from the dangerous, corrupt, and violence stricken state of Veracruz. Espinosa’s murder garnered headlines because formerly, no journalists who traveled to the capital seeking safety have been murdered there.