Help us find Karen Melissa!

***UPDATE 5/1/2023***

Thank you so much for your donations! With these initial funds we were able to hire a team of two lawyers specialized in justice processes for missing persons. Over the past few weeks, these lawyers have been able to support Mely’s family and make several trips to the state attorney's office in Chilpancingo, where Mely went missing. These efforts have resulted in Mely’s case coming to the desk of several key officials and government agencies and has started the arduous process of cooperation between them. We cannot overstate the significance of these achievements, as most missing persons cases in this region go unanswered.

Without your help, Mely’s family would not have had legal support in these painful months and we would not have been able to make this truly significant progress. Families of missing persons need all the expert support they can receive; in a moment of grief and desperation, guidance in the intensely bureaucratic and sometimes dangerous process of searching for a loved one is crucial.

Unfortunately, we anticipate that it will be a long process to find Mely and we are asking for your continued support to be able to continue paying the legal team. We have placed our goal at $15,000 to be able to support the legal team for at least one year. The money will be used for lawyer’s fees, and travel costs to Chilpancningo. It will be managed by our team, Mely's teachers, in collaboration with the team of lawyers and Mely’s family.

If you have already donated, thank you so much! If you can donate more or send this to friends who can, please do. Every day that passes, this case becomes more urgent. Thank you for your solidarity and helping us bring Mely home.

Some words of thanks from Mely's mom

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting this fight and for everything you do to find my daughter Karen Melissa Peñalosa Martinez. Rest assured that I will continue to look for her, and that I will find her. Especially because I am not in this alone: thanks to all who have supported us financially we have been able to mobilize our search for Mely. Thanks also to everyone who has shared on social media. Me, my family and my daughter’s friends thank you infinitely.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT MELY'S DISAPPEARANCE

Karen Melissa (“Mely”) is a 20-year old afromexican woman from Guerrero, México who has been missing since January 31st. Help us raise $15,000 USD to find her and bring her home. Donations will be used to pay a legal team who is working with her family and the state to advance the search. Please donate what you can, and consider a donation of $50 or more if you are able.

About Mely

Mely is from the Costa Chica and had migrated to Chilpancingo to study law at the University of Guerrero. Her family has filed a missing persons report with the police, but she has still not been found. Guerrero is a state where disappearances and impunity are common; young women and girls are particularly vulnerable.

Mely is a bright, joyful, and affectionate person. She always has an enormous smile on her face and loves telling jokes, dancing and being the life of the party. She is active in social movements and has participated in various initiatives in favor of women’s rights and social justice. We hope to care for her the way she cares for others and pray for her safe return.

About the campaign

This campaign is organized by a team of teachers and mentors who had the privilege of working with Mely. We are collaborating with her family and community to contribute to the legal fees related to her case. The money that we collect will go to paying the legal team as well as costs associated with supporting this case: transportation, paperwork, and other necessary expenses.

Below is a text from the Guerrero Women’s Rights Network, which is advocating for Melissa’s safe return:

WOMEN DO NOT JUST DISAPPEAR ON THEIR OWN!

WE ARE MADE TO DISAPPEAR, WHICH IS DIFFERENT!

AFROMEXICAN WOMEN MATTER!

We DEMAND that Karen Melissa Peñaloza Martinez be returned alive. She is a young afromexican woman from Cuajinicuilapa and she went missing January 31. When will we stop going missing? When will it stop being a sentence to be born a woman? Today it was Mely, tomorrow it could be any of us. We know we are all at risk, but especially if we are black, indigenous, or poor. We can’t tolerate that women keep disappearing and nothing happens. Look for Mely and all missing women, they are all important. Keep looking!

UNTIL WE FIND HER

Mely, your family and friends are waiting for you.

They took her alive, we want her back alive!

More information

https://tebuscamoskarenmelissa.squarespace.com/

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*¡Ayúdanos a encontrar a Karen Melissa!*

Karen Melissa es una joven afromexicana de 20 años de Guerrero, México, desaparecida desde el 31 de enero. Con esta campaña esperamos recaudar $15,000 dólares para cubrir los gastos legales y garantizar la seguridad del equipo jurídico que acompaña este caso. Por favor, dona lo que puedas.

Sobre Mely

Karen Melissa es de la Costa Chica y estudia derecho en la Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero, Chilpancingo. Su familia ha presentado una denuncia por desaparición pero seguimos sin encontrarla. Guerrero es un estado donde las desapariciones y la impunidad son comunes. Las mujeres y las niñas son particularmente vulnerables.

Melissa es una persona inteligente, amable y cariñosa. Siempre trae una sonrisa de oreja a oreja y le encanta contar chistes, bailar y ser el alma de la fiesta. Mely ha participado en varias iniciativas en pro de los derechos de las mujeres y la justicia social. Oramos por su regreso seguro.

Sobre la campaña

Esta campaña la organiza un grupo de maestres que tuvimos la oportunidad de conocer a Melissa. Estamos colaborando con el equipo jurídico que acompaña el caso para apoyarles en sus actividades y encontrar a Mely lo antes posible. El dinero se usará para pagar los honorarios del equipo jurídico más los gastos asociados con acompañar el caso incluyendo traslados, copias y alimentos debido a los tiempos de espera en las instituciones.

A continuación, un texto de la Red de Derechos de las Mujeres de Guerrero, quienes abogan por el regreso seguro de Mely:

¡¡¡LAS MUJERES NO DESAPARECEMOS SOLAS!!!

¡¡¡NOS DESAPARECEN QUE ES DIFERENTE!!!

#LASMUJERESAFROMEXICANASTAMBIÉNIMPORTAMOS!!!

EXIGIMOS la aparición con vida de Karen Melissa Peñaloza Martínez, joven afromexicana de nuestro municipio Cuajinicuilapa, compañera y amiga quien desapareció el pasado 31 de enero en Chilpancingo, lugar al que tuvo que emigrar para poder estudiar la licenciatura en Derecho de la Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero. ¿hasta cuándo vamos a dejar de desaparecer? ¿hasta cuándo va dejar deser una condena nacer mujer? Hoy fue Mely, mañana puede ser cualquiera de nosotras, sabemos que todas estamos en riesgo, pero aún más cuando somos mujeres negras, indígenas o en situación de pobreza. No es posible que las mujeres sigan desapareciendo y no pase nada. Busquen a Mely y a todas las desaparecidas, todas son importantes, sigan buscando.

¡HASTA ENCONTRARLAS!

#Melytebuscamos

#EncuentrenaMely

#Melytequeremosconvida

Mely tu familia y amistades te estamos esperando

¡¡¡Porque viva se la llevaron, viva la queremos!!!

Para más información: https://tebuscamoskarenmelissa.squarespace.com/