«
<
>
Margarita
DESAPARECIDAS EN DEMOCRACIA
The story of Margarita
Margarita Meira is the leader and founder of 'MADRES VICTIMAS DE TRATA', an association of mothers who lost their daughters kidnapped and sold to be sex slaves. Phenomenon sadly current in Argentina. She has Paraguayan origins and a past of intense activism in politics. Her daughter Susana Graciela Becker disappeared in 1991 and was found dead in 1992 in an apartment killed with gas. She was only 17, Kidnapped and sold by her boyfriend, a drug dealer. Margarita found the association in 1992 with 14 mothers. On march 2018 Margarita,after 25 years of fight, was finally nominated "woman of the year" in Italy. Some days after, when she came back in Buenos Aires a sicario shot her in front of the soup kitchen where she lives and works. In 2019 her beloved husband died after a fight against a lung cancer. He was the lawyer of 'Madres Victimas de Trata' fighting together with Margarita since the creation of the association. Today Margarita is supported in her work by her daughter Guadalupe, some mothers and a network of volunteers and activists from various collectives.
Among those the 'Colectivo Mariposas' together with several dance and theatre's collectives organize performances in Plaza de Mayo supporting "Madres Victimas de Trata" on the occasion of the international week against women’s trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation and in the monthly 3rd friday march against women's trafficking in Plaza de Mayo. Mariposas's and the other organizations that support 'Madres victimas de trata' usually wear red dresses and a mask remembering the tragedy happened to many women who disappeared in the country. They all wear a cartel with the image and the story of each victim.
I firstly met Margarita in 2015 when I started my work on this terrible plague. Since that year I've never stopped to work with her and I've been a witness of her untiring work and document, thanks to her work, the rehabilitation of many women freed from the women's trafficking network. For me She is a terrific example of resistance and courage. During my investigation everytime I learned about a new story entering in a terrible circle apparently without end and with increasingly bloody dynamics for the victims involved, women who have suffered unimaginable violence.
It is estimated that in the country about 60,000 women are prisoners of this terrible network. They are sadly known like the new 'desaparecidas'. In Argentina ‘La ley de trata’ - the law against human trafficking - was created in 2008. The sentence varies from 5 to 18 years and is multiplied by each victim for which he is responsible. Recently a telephone line has also been set up to report crimes related to this issue, the line 145. 40% of victims in Argentina come from Paraguay. Human trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation most of the time is linked to drug trafficking and the phenomenon involves several parts of society and often uses police and justice corruption to proliferate unpunished.
The story of Margarita
Margarita Meira is the leader and founder of 'MADRES VICTIMAS DE TRATA', an association of mothers who lost their daughters kidnapped and sold to be sex slaves. Phenomenon sadly current in Argentina. She has Paraguayan origins and a past of intense activism in politics. Her daughter Susana Graciela Becker disappeared in 1991 and was found dead in 1992 in an apartment killed with gas. She was only 17, Kidnapped and sold by her boyfriend, a drug dealer. Margarita found the association in 1992 with 14 mothers. On march 2018 Margarita,after 25 years of fight, was finally nominated "woman of the year" in Italy. Some days after, when she came back in Buenos Aires a sicario shot her in front of the soup kitchen where she lives and works. In 2019 her beloved husband died after a fight against a lung cancer. He was the lawyer of 'Madres Victimas de Trata' fighting together with Margarita since the creation of the association. Today Margarita is supported in her work by her daughter Guadalupe, some mothers and a network of volunteers and activists from various collectives.
Among those the 'Colectivo Mariposas' together with several dance and theatre's collectives organize performances in Plaza de Mayo supporting "Madres Victimas de Trata" on the occasion of the international week against women’s trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation and in the monthly 3rd friday march against women's trafficking in Plaza de Mayo. Mariposas's and the other organizations that support 'Madres victimas de trata' usually wear red dresses and a mask remembering the tragedy happened to many women who disappeared in the country. They all wear a cartel with the image and the story of each victim.
I firstly met Margarita in 2015 when I started my work on this terrible plague. Since that year I've never stopped to work with her and I've been a witness of her untiring work and document, thanks to her work, the rehabilitation of many women freed from the women's trafficking network. For me She is a terrific example of resistance and courage. During my investigation everytime I learned about a new story entering in a terrible circle apparently without end and with increasingly bloody dynamics for the victims involved, women who have suffered unimaginable violence.
It is estimated that in the country about 60,000 women are prisoners of this terrible network. They are sadly known like the new 'desaparecidas'. In Argentina ‘La ley de trata’ - the law against human trafficking - was created in 2008. The sentence varies from 5 to 18 years and is multiplied by each victim for which he is responsible. Recently a telephone line has also been set up to report crimes related to this issue, the line 145. 40% of victims in Argentina come from Paraguay. Human trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation most of the time is linked to drug trafficking and the phenomenon involves several parts of society and often uses police and justice corruption to proliferate unpunished.
