Fellow: Marcela Garcia Vazquez
Grant Year: 2018
City: San Luis Potosi, Mexico
Job Title: Director
Organization: Nueva Luna
Project title: Empower to Liberate
Project summary: Women prisons in the State of San Luis Potosí lack regulation and rehabilitation programs, which are critical to preventing new offenses and supporting women’s integration into society after incarceration. Women prisoners do not have access to quality educational programs, medical services, work opportunities, recreational facilities, employment training, or economic empowerment programs. In contrast, male prisons offer education services, carpentry workshops and sports programs. Nueva Luna aims to influence the design and implementation of prison technical training courses and prison-to-work programs to contribute to women’s economic empowerment and to guarantee employment opportunities for all women leaving prison in the state of San Luis Potosi. Nueva Luna will build the advocacy capacity of women to raise their voices and advocate for their needs with the President of the Human Rights Commission and with the Director of the Women’s Institute of San Luis Potosí to improve the design of employment and training programs offered to the 500 women prisoners in the state. The current lack of opportunities and support for women prisoners perpetuate the cycle of poverty and re-offenses, and as a result their families struggle along with them. The success of this project would benefit women and their families by ensuring that all women prisoners in the State could access technical training courses and prison-to-work programs in order to productively integrate into society and earn an income for themselves and their families once they leave prison.