On 24 August, searching woman defender Araceli Salcedo, from the Mexican state of Veracruz, was attacked by a group of men who intercepted her car on the road from Orizaba to Mexico City. These men were carrying long-barreled weapons and threatened her while they stole the car in which she was traveling.

Araceli Salcedo, who is also an alternate advisor to the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, was traveling with her family. This incident is the latest in a series of security incidents that the woman defender has experienced as part of her work, which she conducts in a context of insecurity that increases the risks to her life and personal integrity.

Between January and July 2024, the National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders in Mexico (RNDDHM) registered 126 attacks against searching mothers who defend the right to truth, justice, and reparations. Many of them are users of the Protection Mechanism, and yet they continue experiencing attacks such as threats, raids, thefts, and – most alarming – the killing of searching woman defender Angela Almeras Leon, which took place last February in the state of Baja California.

RNDDHM and IM-Defensoras demand that the competent authorities investigate the attack against Araceli Salcedo in connection with her human rights defense work, and that they design and implement protection measures to safeguard the life and personal integrity of the woman defender and her family.

We reiterate our concern about the context of insecurity, violence, and ineffectiveness on the part of the authorities in which the searching families conduct their work, and we call for immediate and comprehensive attention to their demands.