La Madre Luchadora

impressions of Norma Andrade

Lilia Alejandra was assassinated on February 14, 2001, in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. She was 17 years old. Kidnapped as she left a beauty parlour, she was found dead 10 days later, wrapped in a blanket, her body showing signs of physical and sexual assault.

Since then, her mother, Norma Andrade has fought ceaselessly to find the guilty parties. Together with Marisela Ortiz, her daughter’s teacher, Norma Andrade co-founded the organization: Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa.

Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa A.C. ("May Our Daughters Return Home, Civil Association") is a non-profit organization composed of mothers, family members, and friends of victims of the female homicides in Ciudad Juárez. The mothers claim that their cases have gone unsolved in some cases for over 12 years. Their hope is to get the murderers of their daughters arrested and hopefully convicted.

Many of the victims have been found to be poor working mothers employed in factories in Ciudad Juárez, which is located in the northwestern Mexican state of Chihuahua, and is located across the Rio Grande from the U.S. city of El Paso, Texas.

Since 1993, female bodies have been found in the City of Juarez, and most of the cases remain unsolved. The group's mission is to put pressure on the Mexican government to fight impunity, solve the murders and counter-act the prevalence of femicide.

Norma Andrade became the voice for so many mothers suffering like she was. Norma Andrade is determined to fight to the end demanding justice from the State of Mexico and raising awareness of the victims of femicide.