One year ago today, 41 girls were killed in a fire in an orphanage in Guatemala. The girls, aged 14 to 17, had used the occasion of International Women’s Day to protest the sexual abuse they suffered in the institution – and were locked in their dormitory as punishment. When the fire broke out, no one came to unlock the door.
Over the last year, we have filed a case with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to protect the survivors of the fire and pressured the Guatemalan government to enforce the right of every child to grow up with a family. All over the world, children are locked up and restrained in orphanages and institutions where the same patterns of abuse and neglect play out day after day. DRI’s Worldwide Campaign to End the Institutionalization of Children is fighting to stop abuses against children in orphanages and institutions. For more information on our work on this case, see our report After the Fire on our website here, and read DRI Executive Director Eric Rosenthal’s op-ed in the Washington Post here.
Please join us today as we remember the victims of this tragedy. Their names are listed below:
Rosa Julia Espino Tobar
Indira Jarisa Pelicó Orellana
Daria Dalila López Meda
Achly Gabriela Mendez Ramírez
Yemmi Araceli Ramírez Siquín
Jaquelyn Paola Catinac Pérez
Milenie Eloísa Rac Hernández
Siona Hernández García
Josselyn Marisela Garcia Flores
Hashly Angely Rodriguez Hernandez
Daily Analí Domingo Martínez
Mayra Haydeé Chután Urias
Yusbelí Yubitza Merary Maquin Gómez
Skarleth Yajayra Pérez Jiménez
Yohana Desire Cuy Urizar
Sarvia Isel Barrientos Reyes
Ana Noemy Morales Galindo
Rosalinda Victoria Ramírez Pérez
Madelyn Patricia Hernández
Jilma Sucely Carias López
Ana Rubidia Chocoj Chuta
Mari Carmen Ramírez Melgar
Grindi Yasmin Carías López
Yoselin Beatríz Ventura Pérez
Keila Rebeca López Salguero
Candelaria Meléndrez Hernández
Estefany Sucely Veliz Pablo
Ana Roselia Pérez Junay
Melani Yanira de León Palencia
Celia María Samary López Aranda
Yoselin Yamilet Barahona Beltran
Kimberly Mishel Palencia Ortíz
Nanci Paola Vela García
Lilian Andrea Gómez Arceno
Mirsa Rosmeri Lopez Tojil
Grisna Yamilet Cú Uluan
Luisa Fernanda Joj Gonzalez
Iris Yodenis León Pérez
Silvia Milexi Rivera Sanchez
Sara Noemy Lima Ascón