The National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders in Mexico and IM-Defensoras express our concern about the increase in attacks – of various forms and severity – against women defenders who search for disappeared persons in the state of Sinaloa. This escalation further exacerbates the already alarming situation faced by these women defenders and their collectives.
On Saturday, 29 August, the National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders alerted about the disappearance in Mazatlán since 27 August of searcher Elisa Altagracia Bonilla, mother of Kevin Alexander Guerrero Bonilla, disappeared since 18 October 2025 in the same locality. That same Saturday, the Network denounced an armed attack against Alma Rosa Rojo Medina, founder of the collective Voces Unidas por la Vida, along with her daughter and two minors, when they were traveling in a vehicle in Culiacán. Alma Rosa and her daughter were wounded by the bullets and were taken to the hospital. The woman defender is searching for her brother, Miguel Ángel Rojo, who disappeared in 2009; she is also member of Unión y Red Nacional de Búsqueda.
On Tuesday, 1 September, members of the collective “Corazones Unidos por Una Misma Causa” were subjected to physical and verbal attacks while demonstrating in Mazatlán alongside other searcher collectives, demanding truth and justice for their family members. A vehicle struck the women defenders who were holding a banner with photographs of their missing loved ones, injuring two of them. Furthermore, they were publicly insulted and revictimized by people passing by in the area. All of this took place while the police stood by and did nothing – they did not intervene to stop the assault nor did they provide immediate assistance, allowing the perpetrators to leave. Later, when they went to a public hospital, the collective members were revictimized once again by healthcare workers who refused to treat them, citing a lack of resources.
All of these incidents, which occurred close to the observance of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, highlight the alarming situation faced by searching women defenders in the state of Sinaloa. It is important to recall that in February of this year, searching mother Rubí Patricia Gómez-Tagle was killed in Mazatlán; she was also a member of the collective “Corazones Unidos por Una Misma Causa.” Adding to these attacks is the disappearance of María de los Ángeles Valenzuela, a member of the same collective, who was deprived of her liberty by armed men in Mazatlán on 14 October 2025 as she was carrying out activities to search for her family members. She has been missing ever since, and the authorities have failed to ensure that she is located.
Searching women defenders in Sinaloa conduct their tireless work to demand truth and justice for their loved ones in a context marked by limited resources and violent attacks, including lethal assaults. These women defenders have denounced that organized crime controls certain territories and retaliates against those who dare to search in areas under its influence, including using drones for surveillance and harassment during search activities. Added to this is the failure of institutions to conduct search operations, the lack of support, and the failure to comply with security measures, leaving the women defenders exposed to extremely high risks.
This situation is further enabled and exacerbated by public officials and other social actors who attempt to discredit and delegitimize their work, thus revictimizing them and creating a climate of intimidation, which also contributes to the weakening of the collectives, the displacement of families, and the erosion of trust in protection mechanisms.
The National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders in Mexico and IM-Defensoras call on the Sinaloa society to express solidarity with the pain and struggle of the searching women defenders, who are mothers, daughters, sisters, partners, who – faced with State omission and in a context of grave structural violence – have dedicated themselves to the tireless search for their disappeared loved ones and the demand for truth and justice for them, with the righteous humanitarian aim of honoring their memory and finding peace and solace from the pain and uncertainty in which they live since the absence of their family members.
We demand that state and federal authorities and public institutions take the necessary measures to ensure that these women defenders can carry out their work safely, without risking their lives; that they do not neglect their duties to protect them and to administer justice; and that they promote recognition among society in Sinaloa of the vital work these women defenders carry out.
Finally, we call on the national and international community to show solidarity with searching women defenders in Sinaloa and their search collectives, embodying support for their struggles and amplifying their righteous demands for truth and justice.