Human Rights Watch award winner visits NEIU

Veronica Cruz, 2006 Human Rights Watch Award recipient, stressed the importance of education in human rights at a talk in the Golden Eagles room on Thursday, Oct. 26, which was part of a week-long visit.

In attendance was Jackie MacKay, a representative of Human Rights Watch in the new Chicago office, who said Cruz gives a face to the human rights issue. Only three activists worldwide receive this award every year.

"All of us have to struggle, all those who have the economic and educational resources, as well as access to information," said Cruz.

According to Cruz, the sexual violence in Ciudad Juarez is an open social wound which occurs in all parts of the country. When the murder of more than 500 women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico is but a fragment of the pervasive violence inflicted on the women there, the advocacy work Cruz does critical work for victims of domestic violence, rape and discrimination.

The heart of her human rights struggles, which continue to receive international attention, focus on the Mexican state of Guanajuato. Cruz stressed that it is not just about access to abortions, but that social and political problems are complicated by issues of rape, domestic violence and poverty.

In 2000, Cruz founded a non-profit grassroots organization called Las Libres (The Free Ones) in the Mexican state of Guanajuato. She utilizes popular education as an effective tool in hopes of changing attitudes and sensibilities surrounding issues of women's sexual and reproductive rights. Cruz observed that these issues are complicated by poverty, immigration and remittances.

In Guanajuato, 500,000 clandestine abortions are performed yearly, and more than a thousand women die from complications. Still, abortion is a crime which is punishable by a fine and prison time. The only exceptions allowed, according to Cruz, are pregnancies resulting from rape.

Abortion itself came under attack with the presidency of Vicente Fox. Protests were mobilized, and Cruz led a movement to resist and block legislation which would eliminate abortion altogether. She said that her determination for social justice began at a very early age.

Professor Victor Ortiz, chair of the Latino and Latin American Studies Program at NEIU, which organized the event, commented that there is a lot to celebrate, not because of the pain but because of the beautiful and tireless work that Cruz and the center do.

Cruz spent a week at NEIU, meeting and talking with students, both in and outside of the classroom. Cruz said that she has always wanted to speak and work with university students.

Ortiz also showed appreciation for the assistance of Provost Lawrence Frank. Also, he especially thanked Ann Botz, who is the Latino and Latin American Studies secretary, for her efforts in making this event a success.

In the end, Cruz urged her audience to be aware of the adverse economic and political policies of the United States. She asked that people struggle with them, not for them.