women

“I knew I was unhappy but I didn’t realize I was a victim of violence because my life was no different from my neighbors, my mother or friends. Then I entered Centro Mujeres' program PROMESA and slowly began to realize that I was suffering from abuse. I knew I had to take action.”

Carmen Montoya, Survivor and Community Advocate 

Did You Know?

  • Nearly half (46%) of women older than 15 years have suffered some type of abuse in Mexico, according to the National Survey on Family Relations.
  • Domestic violence and sexual harassment were not considered or punished as crimes in Baja California Sur until 2005, when the Penal Codes were finally reformed after years of Centro Mujeres’ advocacy efforts.

Centro Mujeres promotes reproductive health, an end to violence against women, and the exercise of women’s rights. The center is a safe haven for abused and disempowered women, many of whom do not formally recognize their right to live free of emotional and physical violence. We offer basic health services, counseling, advocacy, and one of the area’s only peer-education programs, PROMESA.

PROMESA

PROMESA (Promise) is a community leadership program in women’s reproductive health and human rights. Centro Mujeres forms women from the most marginalized communities in the state as  “orientadoras”, who then serve in their communities as advocates, with particular attention given to prevention and  detection of HIV/AIDS and violence against women.

PROMESA has a network of trained orientadoras  that includes women living in the city of La Paz, as well as  migrant women living and working in rural ranches in the state.  PROMESA is currently being developed with migrant women living in the poorest neighborhoods of San Jose del Cabo.   This network of orientadoras has provided support to thousands of women over the last 12 years.

PROMESA facilitates the prevention, recognition and remediation of abuses through on-site workshops, while empowering  women to assert their fundamental human and civil rights through broader educational campaigns.