Priority Cases
THE WOMEN OF ATENCO--ASSAULTED BY THE POLICE
MEXICO
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When the women left their homes that May morning in 2006, they never imagined the horrific experience that lay ahead of them. During a police operation in response to protests by activists from a local peasant organization in San Salvador Atenco, Mexico, over 45 women were arrested without explanation.
Dozens of them were subjected to physical, psychological and sexual violence by the police officers who arrested them. More than two years later, they are still waiting for justice. None of the officials responsible for their abuse have been adequately held accountable.
Bárbara Italia Méndez is one of at least 26 women who reported being physically and sexually abused by Mexican police that day in May, 2006. At the time, she was a 27-year-old student and volunteer working for street children, and she had gone to the protest to show support for the community after violence between the police and protestors resulted in the death of a child. Police officers broke into the house where she was seeking refuge and arrested her without explanation. The officers pulled her hair, beat her, and forced her into a state police vehicle with her shirt pulled over her head. She was made to lie on top of other detainees, and during the journey to the prison, police officers raped her repeatedly.
Once at the "Santiaguito" prison near Toluca in Mexico State, the prison doctors who gave Bárbara Italia a check-up failed to document all her physical injuries or to gather evidence of the sexual abuse she had suffered. She was held in prison for 12 days before being released on bail. Like many others, she is still facing criminal charges.
More than two years later, Ms. Méndez and the other survivors still wait for justice.
