HERE SHINES THE GREEN
Aquí brilla el verde
In the context of the changing legislation on the decriminalization of abortion in Mexico, a new generation of women has taken on the task of accompanying their fellow women through the abortion process, totally free of charge and in a spirit of sisterhood, based on empathy, emotional support and care among women. They are called "AcompañantAs". In Latin America a handful of women are building a network of mutual support and providing follow-up during all stages of the abortion process. Women with different profiles: mothers, students, sisters, or even activists, all united by one and the same cause: to be able to choose over one's body. Like the green glitter found in feminist demonstrations, they sneak and shine only by acting in the shadows.
The predominance of the church and conservative political groups has led to the development of a black market for Misoprostol (the drug used to perform an abortion), and abortions are performed clandestinely. Misinformation and guilt-tripping of young women who want to have an abortion often result in traumatic experiences for them. It is thus together and hand in hand that they will live this ordeal, where sharing and reciprocity makes no difference between the one who accompanies and the one who interrupts her pregnancy.
Thus, behind their lively and sparkling aspects, the strength of the claim that the "Marea Verde" has allowed Latin America to reflect on what the right to decide implies in terms of health and care. And by the glow of these feelings of love and compassion, they provide a safe space, legal advice, and emotional support, but more than ever remind all girls that they are not alone. Today, more than ever, they are trying to expand transnationally all over America.
AcompañantAs in the Borders
Accompanying across borders: the transnational network of AcompañantXs in Mexico and USA border
From the border towns of northern Mexico, activists help women circumvent repressive U.S. laws by training them and providing them with medications, sometimes smuggled across the border. To date, a dozen U.S. states have banned abortion following the Supreme Court's repeal of Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022. In effect since 1973, its reversal was encouraged by former Republican President Donald Trump (2016-2020) and is the result of decades of mobilization by anti-rights conservatives, during which hundreds of restrictive laws were passed locally. Dozens of activists are therefore dedicated to helping American women, forced to find alternative ways to terminate unwanted pregnancies.
AcompañantAs & Activism
The struggle of activists in protest promotes dialogue and avoids misinformation and guilt-tripping among young women
- SINALOA - CDMX - COAHUILA - TAMAULIPAS-
The militant interventions that we find in the street, has inspired the plastic intervention of the images, coming here to irradiate their actions, as a way to pay tribute to them. Here glitters the green and shines the color of hope, that of a flourishing struggle, where everyone reaches out to each other.
AcompañantAs la red de Latam
A network that is developing transnationally, particularly in Central America, to counter restrictions on reproductive rights.
- MEXICO - COLOMBIA - EL SALVADOR - USA
By tracing the journey of several AcompañantAs in strategic points and differents countries, we understand the contextual differences that each of them has to face. From this comes the spark of the fight for abortion that these women try to bring to light every day in the public square.
COLLABORATIVE PROJECT WITH ACOMPAÑANTXS
PHOTO EMBROIDERY
Picture made during an Acompañantas meeting in Chiapas
The embroidery was made by one of them named Colibri from Baja California
PHOTO INSTALLATION
Made with hands from Michoacan, Mexico, and California, USA
Between mother-daughter and sister, Hilda, Lupita, and Hilda baby, recreate uterus with abortifacient plants
PHOTO COLLAGE
Made with several hands around America
From a series of pictures, several Mexican AcompañantAs realized an assembly.
PHOTO WORKSHOP
Made with several hands in California, USA
Self-care workshop for Acompañantxs. Generating a safe space where everyone can share their experience as Acompañantxs and express themselves freely through art. Making collective photography, building images in groups and working from the color green.
PHOTO POEM
Created in the state of Coahuila in northern Mexico
Blanca offers us to explore the essence of her work of AcompañantA through a poem she did. Through her voice and the glow of these feelings of love and compassion, the tenderness of a hand stretched out to support the women among themselves shines through.
This photographic project was produced by the independent Mexican newspaper Kaja Negra with the support of the Spanish Deutsche Welle "Cambia la historia". Mahé Elipe Photography and audiovisual editing | Lizbeth Hernández research and audio record
BLANCA
Hola, yo soy Blanca, y al nombrarme, mi nombre suena sosegado, quizás neutral, simple. Pero en realidad, sostengo en mí múltiples universos y todos los aromas de las flores, de la risa y de la vasta otredad que también está en el infinito, presentado en seis letras: Blanca. Soy acompañanta, Blanca acompañanta, y soy la más amorosa, respetuosa y comprometida; soy la que encuentra aliadas en farmacéuticas, la que convierte botellas viejas en compresas calentitas y la que conoce la angustia y el dolor de enfrentar lo que te empuja a hacer algo que no quieres hacer.
Me gusta acompañar, saber que esta acción es la oportunidad de ofrecer apoyo asertivo, libertad, y el poder de decidir por nosotras mismas y sobre nuestros cuerpos sin ser juzgadas, cuestionadas ni satanizadas por ello. Cuando el sistema nos falla y no nos garantiza que podemos ejercer nuestros derechos, yo acompaño, porque acompañar es el grito de la lucha por nuestros derechos, es la solidaridad de las que acompañamos y de las que nos han acompañado antes. Es el trabajo y la investigación a lo largo de los años de tantas y muchas mujeres que han creado redes de apoyo, protocolos de seguridad y espacios en los que estamos seguras y libres de violencia.
Aunque ahora el aborto no está penalizado, aquí sigue siendo ilegal; sigue siendo un tema del que nadie habla, porque les enseñan que una mujer que decide por sí misma es una mala mujer. Y es aquí donde nuestros caminos se encuentran en una misma causa: acompañar. Generalmente, iniciamos temprano, y aunque de acuerdo al método sugerido por la Organización Mundial de la Salud el tiempo empleado sería de siete horas y treinta minutos, siempre es un poco más.
Mi casa se convierte en el hogar para todas, mi habitación en su espacio seguro, y yo misma en un libro humano para aclarar dudas, brindar tranquilidad, ser valiente, ser fuerte o lo que se necesite, y las veces que se requiera. Después del dolor abdominal, del sudor frío, llega la calma; las sonrisas vuelven a los rostros de mujeres realizadas, libres, felices. Y hago una pausa, porque quiero que sepan que justo aquí surgen las redes de acompañamiento entre acompañantas, porque aquí nos sostenemos unas a las otras. Solo así puedo llevar a cabo un acompañamiento respetuoso, amoroso y total.
Quiero decir que es así como genero el tiempo para ocuparme totalmente de acompañar. Y es por eso que sigo acompañando y siguen pronunciando mi nombre cuando hablan de acompañantas en el centro de Coahuila, porque no hay nada más satisfactorio que acompañar a otras y juntas ser lo que elegimos ser: libres y dueñas de nuestros cuerpos
BLANCA
Hello, I am Blanca, and when I say my name, it sounds calm, perhaps neutral, simple. But in reality, I carry within me multiple universes and all the scents of flowers, laughter, and the vast "otherness" also found in the infinite, all contained in six letters: Blanca. I am an acompañanta, Blanca acompañanta, and I am the most loving, respectful, and dedicated. I am the one who finds allies in pharmacies, who turns old bottles into warm compresses, and who knows the anguish and pain of being forced into something you don’t want to do.
I enjoy accompanying, knowing that this action is the chance to provide assertive support, freedom, and the power to choose for ourselves and over our bodies without being judged, questioned, or demonized for it. When the system fails us and doesn’t guarantee our rights, I accompany, because accompanying is the rallying cry for our rights. It’s the solidarity of those of us who accompany and those who have accompanied before us. It is the work and research over the years of so many women to create support networks, safety protocols, and spaces where we feel safe and free from violence.
Although abortion is no longer penalized here, it remains illegal; it’s still a subject no one talks about, because they teach that a woman who chooses for herself is a bad woman. And it is here that our paths converge in a common cause: accompaniment. Generally, we start early, and although the method recommended by the World Health Organization suggests it should take seven hours and thirty minutes, it always takes a little longer.
My house becomes a home for everyone, my room becomes their safe space, and I become a living book to answer questions, provide reassurance, to be brave, to be strong, or to be whatever is needed, whenever it’s needed. After the abdominal pain and cold sweat, calm returns; smiles reappear on the faces of fulfilled, free, happy women. And I pause because I want you to know that here is where the support networks among acompañantas emerge, because here we hold each other up. Only then can I carry out respectful, loving, and full accompaniment.
I want to say that this is how I create the time to dedicate myself fully to accompaniment. And that’s why I keep accompanying, and why my name continues to be spoken when they talk about acompañantas in central Coahuila—because there’s nothing more satisfying than accompanying others and, together, being what we choose to be: free and owners of our own bodies.
"Ser Acompañanta es Estar y es Ayudar"
"Being a Acompañanta is being and helping".
AcompañantAs in the Press
ITALY - Drepublica // USA - Vogue // FRANCE - Libération // UK - The Guardian
AcompañantAs Exposed
Biennale Fotografia Femminile
Mantova, ITALY 8 March - 14 April 2024
PRESENTATION - FESTIVAL LATAM 2024 - Mexico, CDMX
