HERE SHINES THE GREEN
Aquí brilla el verde
In a rapidly evolving legislative context regarding the decriminalization of abortion in Latin America and the United States, a new generation of young women is emerging, distinguished by their commitment to supporting their peers throughout the abortion process. In Latin America, they have woven a strong solidarity network, providing free support at every stage of pregnancy termination. They come from diverse backgrounds—mothers, students, sisters, activists—all united by a common cause: the right to make decisions about their own bodies. Rooted in sisterhood, empathy, emotional support, and mutual care, these abortion doulas are known as "AcompañantAs."
As reproductive rights restrictions tighten, these networks of solidarity have expanded and strengthened across borders, particularly in the United States and Central America. Confronted with stigma, misinformation, and repressive policies, collectives are intensifying their coordination to offer a safe and supportive alternative for those seeking to terminate a pregnancy autonomously. Although much of their work remains clandestine, they provide medical, emotional, and legal assistance to those in need. In this shared experience, support and reciprocity blur the line between those who accompany and those undergoing the procedure.
The "Marea Verde" movement, born in Argentina, has ignited a profound reevaluation of reproductive rights across the region, challenging societal norms and legal frameworks. In response, collectives have strengthened their coordination to provide a secure and compassionate alternative. Through the power of love and solidarity, Acompañantas create a safe space that reminds each person they are not alone.
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
This project is founded on collaboration, actively involving companions in content creation to stimulate creativity. To foster exchange, participants engage in creative techniques such as embroidered photography, collective collage, poetry creation, and installations with herbal plants, encouraging companions to explore their own artistic expression.
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.
DIGITAL PLATFORM COMMUNICATION
This initiative seeks to strengthen the network of companions, promoting dialogue through art and providing a secure platform for sharing experiences and practices via an app where all project participants can connect. The graphic material, created in capsule format, can be shared on their social media, helping raise awareness of medication-based abortion processes.
PHOTO WORKSHOP
Made with several hands in California, USA
Self-care workshop for Acompañantxs. This project aims to strengthen the network of abortion doulas by fostering dialogue and countering misinformation and stigma. It creates a safe space where Acompañantxs can share their experiences and express themselves freely through art. Through collective photography, participants build images together while respecting identity and privacy. Rooted in the color green, this collaborative process nurtures both individual and collective creativity, offering a space for emotions, reflection, and solidarity.
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
