Women who have served unjust sentences in Mexican penitentiaries in the past for non-violent crimes have come together to free those like them.

A woman named Betty Maldonado served Moore than six years in prison for selling drugs in order to pay off her husband’s debt, and is now working towards a future where women will not have to share her experience.

Maldonado and many women who she met in jail have put in motion a campaign that is meant to aid hundreds of female inmates who have fallen victim to what Maldonado says is an unfair system.

The group of women is calling for case reviews of female inmates who were victims as much as perpetrators of usual petty crime. They are also calling for them to receive more help with release.

They also want to create public support for Mexico’s new amnesty law, which even though it was approved by federal Congress in April, the law still needs to be passed in state legislatures.

Maldonado hopes for this public campaign to round up support with the law, allowing certain first-time offenders to apply for release. Many of these first-time offenders were charged with non-violent robberies, drug carrying, and there were heartbreaking cases of indigenous inmates who lacked an interpreter.

Around 600 out of the 11,000 women (around 5.45%) in prisons and approximately 4,000 men could be benefitted from the passing of this law, according to an estimate made by women’s justice non-profit Equis.

Betty Maldonado played a very big role in founding Mujeres Unidas X La Libertad (Women United for Freedom), a collective of women that have all been in prison. These members have spoken to Congress about the amnesty law, and have set up a YouTube channel where they post videos about women prisoners.

After selling drugs to pay off her addict husband’s debt, Maldonado landed in jail in 2010. She was simply unable to make enough off of factory wages, and after being threatened by the criminal group her husband owed money to, she resorted to selling drugs until she was detained in a police raid.

In Islas Marias island penitentiary, and in prison in general, Maldonado met many women who were imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. There were also many crimes that women were forced into by situations such as poverty and/or a manipulative or abusive partner.

What activists are seeking now is for state legislatures to pass specific laws that could help more women than the amount that the pre-decided amnesty laws. An example of who these certain laws would benefit are women who are imprisoned for having abortions, an act that is a crime in many states.

According to researchers, women endure special hardships while in jail. They are much more likely to be abandoned by their families and need to work inside the prison to support their children on the outside.

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Link to Mujeres Unidas X La Libertad on YouTube!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM3DhH4x9O5WNsR22bgbueQ

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