8M imprisoned

The State Penitentiary System of Guanajuato reaffirms its commitment to equality, non-discrimination and respect for women’s rights through conferences, workshops and various activities for imprisoned men and women

The echo of 8M from the Penitentiary Centers of Guanajuato

Guanajuato/Gto News

In one of the Penitentiary Centers of Guanajuato, a white wall has become a witness to a story that is repeated this day around the world.

A butterfly seems to have landed on the wall. It is not alone: ​​hundreds of them form a pair of immense wings, as if waiting for the right moment to fly. 

And in front of them, a woman dressed in orange raises her fist. There are no shouts. No heated speeches. Just that gesture. Silent, forceful. Like an echo of all the women who, inside and outside are standing.  

International Women’s Day is a day to remember the struggle for equality, the rights that have been won and those that are still not granted. A day that began in 1910, when a group of women from 17 countries met in Denmark with a conviction: women’s suffrage should be universal and women’s voices could no longer be ignored.

In the state penitentiary centers with female populations -Guanajuato, Leon and Valle de Santiago- this commemoration was experienced as a space for reflection and reaffirmation. Because in these places there are also stories of struggle. There are also women who have not given up on themselves.  

Purple covered the day. Not only on the walls, on the ribbons or on the posters patiently made by the women deprived of their freedom, but in the intention of each activity. In collaboration with the Institute of Guanajuatense Women (IMUG), conferences were held such as “Keys to female leadership”, a talk designed to strengthen autonomy, decision-making and the construction of a future with new opportunities.  

For the male population, the day also meant an opportunity to learn. In the Penitentiary Centers of Guanajuato and Leon, the talk “Generating new ways of expressing masculinity” was offered; in addition, talks and workshops were held on topics of equality and combating discrimination, as well as socially learned stereotypes against the civil rights of all women.  

But it was not just words. In the Penitentiary Centers of Valle de Santiago, Guanajuato and Leon, women participated in recreational and sports activities that promoted camaraderie and team work, as a complement to the recognition of the importance, strength and value of women. 

Throughout the day, penitentiary centers were dyed purple. More than a color, it was a message of justice, dignity and equal rights. The awareness of the Penitentiary System of the State of Guanajuato, which is part of the Secretary of Security and Peace, regarding this commemoration is an institutional commitment and a responsibility that is reflected in the recognition of each collaborator, visitor and woman deprived of liberty as a holder of rights and an agent of change.  

The afternoon is falling. The sun reflects off the purple ribbons that cover their wrists. Five women sit in front of the mural. The cardboard sculpture with the 8M next to them seems small compared to the image they have built with their bodies: fists raised, gazes fixed ahead, watching butterflies fly freely. There are no speeches or slogans, but they are not necessary. In the silence, in the firmness of their gestures, is everything that this day means.

Because reintegration is not just a legal process, it is an act of reconstruction. Because no one can turn back time, but everyone can decide what to do with the time that is yet to come.

En Español: