Interwoven lives: Threads of pain and power in Mexico.

Queretaro, Mexico – Laura Hernandez never learned to read or write. She grew up with her grandparents in a small village in Querétaro state, Mexico, where she was told education was “no use” for a woman, whose place was in the kitchen.

After giving birth to her first child, Laura became a single mother, and later endured the heartbreak of losing two of her children. Now, at 60, she is part of a group of artisans, supported by UNFPA and Prada Group. “When I’m with my crafts, I don’t think of the fact that I can’t read,” she told UNFPA. “I feel at peace.”  

Elia Hernandez, 52, was assaulted by two public servents in her community. Today, she is a fierce advocate for gender equality, working with an organization that fights against gender-based violence.

Maribel Prisciliano Julian, 36, is a survivor of sexual violence within her own family. For much of her life, she was burdened with shame and guilt, until she was able to speak openly at a UNFPA-supported space. 

When her son was born, her partner disappeared without a trace, leaving her to care for both her child and her sick mother, all while struggling to make ends meet. “Here, we share the same stories, perhaps the same tragedies, the same pains,” she says about the space.

Laura, Elisa and Maribel showing their creation. © MN.

If only by a thread, Laura’s, Elia’s and Maribel’s stories are interwoven. Their lives tell us a broader story than just with individual paths–one that speaks to the ongoing struggles women face: Women continue to be blamed, restricted, and confined to limited roles, opportunities, and lives. 

Against all odds, these three women have risen. They found refuge in UNFPA’s “Fashion Expressions” programme, which supports about fourty women artisans to develop their artistic, design, and financial skills, while learning about bodily autonomy, gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights. Through training sessions, the programme provides artisans with knowledge to make decisions about their own lives, and futures. 

Machismo, disparities and violence

Over the past decades, Mexico has emerged as an upper-middle-income country with a flourishing economy, yet that has left many behind in poverty. Inequalities are pervasive, often tied to geographic location, ethnicity, or gender. Some of Mexico’s states face poverty levels equivalent to the world’s poorest countries, while others maintain the fabric of the country’s economy of Latin America’s second most populous country.

Women are at the crossroads of these socioeconomic disparities, with many falling through the cracks of progress. In a country still steeped in conservatism, machismo, and harmful gender norms, women are paying the price, particularly women artisans.

“La historiass que vestimos” (The stories we wear) is an initiative supported by UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, with funding from Prada, in the state of Queretaro. The project, piloted in Kenya and Ghana, is paving the way for marginalized women to weave their way out of poverty, inequality, and violence.

A tranquil space made of art, culture, and rights 

The women in the programme come from diverse social, ethnic, and economic backgrounds, yet they are united by shared experiences of violence, inequality, and discrimination. 

But within this space, they find respite, conviviality, and respect. “It’s a place of tranquility,” says Elia, where tradition, heritage and culture intersects with learning about rights and choices. Maribel has spent most of her life crafting the “muñeca Lelé” (“baby” in Otomí, the indigenous language of the Otomí people). The space allows her to birth many of these traditional dolls while learning about her rights.

Elia inherited her looms from her father, who worked the wooden pedal looms with sheep wool. “The love for my father– that is my motivation, the inheritance he is leaving me”. 

What string their stories together is not just their shared struggles, but their resilience and willingness to ensure these hardships never happen again, not only for themselves but for their relatives and the women in their communities. 

“I feel empowered, stronger,” says Elia. She fights as a President of an association to end gender-based violence so that nobody in her community would ever have to go through violence, starting with her own daughter.

Maribel has learned to use her voice and her power, finding pride in her craft, and in her ability to be an inspiration for others. “More than anything, I want my story to serve as an example, and if these stories reach more people, they might say, ‘If she can do it, I can do it too’.”