Helena Maleno facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Helena Maleno Garzón
Born	(1970-08-01) 1 August 1970 (age 54) El Ejido, Spain
Language	Human rights defender
Nationality	Spanish

Helena Maleno Garzón, born on August 1, 1970, is a brave Spanish-Moroccan human rights defender, journalist, and writer. She is an expert in helping people who are migrating (moving from one country to another) and those who are forced into dangerous situations. She has received an honorary doctorate from the University of Illes Balears. Helena is also the founder of Caminando Fronteras / Walking Borders [es], an organization that means "Walking Borders."

Since 2001, Helena has spoken out about human rights problems at the borders of Western Europe. She works to support and empower migrant communities from Sub-Saharan Africa, especially women and children who have faced violence during their journeys.

Helena's Journey and Work

Helena Maleno was born in El Ejido, Spain. This is where she first started working with migrants, helping them with their jobs. In 2001, she moved to Morocco with her son, Ernesto. There, she built strong friendships and partnerships with groups of migrants.

She has done important research for organizations like Sos Racismo and Intermón Oxfam. This research looked at how borders are managed, how people are sent back to their home countries, and how people can ask for safety in a new country. From 2007 to 2009, she worked as a representative in Morocco for the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR).

Helena also works with Women's Link Worldwide. She studies how migration affects women in particular. She has done research in many countries, including Nigeria, Colombia, Germany, France, Morocco, and Spain. Her work shows how people are exploited across different countries. She also helped the Ombudsman of Spain (a public official who investigates complaints) by writing a report about helping people who are forced into dangerous situations.

Helena was an advisor for the Middle East and North Africa region for the United Nations. She also wrote a report called 'Alzando Voces: Mujeres que migran' (Raising Voices: Women Who Migrate) for Action aid / Alianza por la Solidaridad. This report was shared at the European Parliament and at a big meeting about migration in Marrakech.

Helena has spoken at important events, like the Open Borders Conference in New York and the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland.

She writes for Spanish news websites like Eldiario.es and Público. In 2017, the newspaper El País named her one of the top 10 African women of the year. She also helps choose winners for human rights awards, like the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity.

Helena uses art to share her message. She has shown her work in art exhibitions in Vienna, London, and Cairo. She has also directed and written scripts for video reports and documentaries. For example, she was a scriptwriter for "Children on the road" for Save The Children. In 2015, her group, Caminando Fronteras, released a documentary called Tarajal: Transforming pain into justice. Helena helped write and interview for this film, which tells the story of a sad event at Tarajal beach from the perspective of the victims' families.

Desert Accident and Recovery

On October 1, 2005, Helena received urgent calls from migrant communities. They told her that many people were being arrested in Moroccan cities. Hundreds were sent into the desert and left there, where many died. Helena reported this terrible situation. People called her 24 hours a day, asking her to share their stories so they could keep going.

On October 8, Helena organized a trip to bring 500 food packages from Tangier to the migrants left in the desert. She also wanted to record what was happening. For several days, they followed groups of men, pregnant women, and children who were forced to move through the desert.

However, after driving more than 6,000 kilometers, Helena's car had an accident with another vehicle. Helena and her colleague Francisco were badly hurt. They were treated in a hospital and then moved to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Helena needed several months in a wheelchair to recover from her injuries.

Standing Up for Human Rights

For many years, Helena has faced threats, harassment, and attacks because of her important work. These actions try to stop her organization and have put her life in danger. One serious event happened in 2014 in Tangier. Helena was attacked when she tried to protect women and children during racist raids.

In August 2017, she received a photo of a loaded gun with a scary message: "I suggest silence or you will die, you are bothering the authorities." In response, many organizations started a campaign called "defend who defends." More than 500 groups, including Amnesty International and Médicos del Mundo, signed up to support her. The World Organization Against Torture and the International Federation for Human Rights also demanded that governments protect Helena.

On December 5, 2017, Helena Maleno was called to court in Morocco. She was accused of "people trafficking" and helping illegal immigration. These charges could have led to a very long prison sentence. Her only "crime" was making calls to rescue services to tell them that people crossing the sea were in danger. The accusations were based on police reports that started in 2012 without proper legal oversight. This was pointed out by the United Nations.

People around the world showed their support for Helena with a campaign called #DefendiendoAMaleno (#DefendingMaleno). More than a thousand organizations and 200 famous people, including actors and writers, signed a statement supporting her.

Her case was first looked at in Spain, but because no crime was found there, the reports were sent to Morocco. To support Helena, 56,000 letters were sent to Spanish government offices in less than 36 hours, asking for the case to be dropped. Many groups, like the Catholic Church and the Madrid City Council, also joined the campaign. Even her hometown of El Ejido, which has had some past issues with racism, supported her. The President of the Spanish Parliament, Ana Pastor, said that Helena is a woman who has given everything to help others and defend their rights.

On March 11, 2019, the court in Tangier dropped the case against Helena. The court recognized her work as a human rights defender. Helena said that this decision was a great example for continuing their work, especially when helping migrants is sometimes seen as a crime in Europe. Moroccan human rights groups celebrated this victory, saying it set an important example for defending the right to life at the border. A major Moroccan newspaper even wrote that Moroccan justice had "embarrassed the Spanish police" by dropping the case.

Even after winning in court, Helena has continued to face challenges. On January 23, she reported being forced out of her home in Morocco. She was separated from her young daughter for 32 days. In a video, Helena said that in the past year, she had faced 37 attacks, death threats, and break-ins at her home. In her defense, major human rights groups like FIDH, OMCT, Amnesty International, and others sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Spain, asking for justice for Helena. The Spanish Minister of Exterior Affairs, Arancha González Laya, publicly praised Helena's work. Many other ministers also supported her. However, international organizations are still waiting for a strong statement from the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, as Helena continues to face problems from some parts of the government.

Awards and Recognition

Helena Maleno has received many awards for her dedication and bravery in defending human rights:

• Human Rights Prize 2014 from the Progressive Union of Prosecutors.
• Human Rights Prize 2015 from the General Council of the Spanish Advocacy.
• Distinction for the Defense of the Rights of Migrants Women from the Andalusian Institute of Women (2016).
• Distinction for the Defense of the Rights of Women Victims of Trafficking from Amaranta Foundation (2017).
• Special Mention of the Dignity Prizes 2017 from Granada's City Hall.
• Fraternity Award 2017 from Mundo Negro.
• Puñetas Periféricas Award 2018 from the Association of Legal Communicators.
• Gernika's Prize for Peace and Reconciliation 2018.
• Valors Award 2018 from the Council of Catalan Advocacy.
• Etnosur Prize 2018 from the Etnosur Music Festival.
• Séan McBride Peace Prize 2018 from International Peace Bureau.
• Abba Melaku Award 2018 from the Solidarity Initiatives Center Ángel Olarán.
• National Award of Journalism from the Spanish Association of Human Rights.
• Emilio Castelar Award 2019 from Progressive Association of Spain.
• Padre Arrupe Award 2019 from the Pontifical University of Comillas.
• Solidarity Encounter with the People of Africa and Latin America (ESPAL) Award 2019.
• Pimental Fonseca 2019 Award from the International Festival of Civil Journalism of Italy.
• Award nomination for the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity 2019.
• Garcia Caparrós Award 2020 from Memoria y Cultura Foundation.
• International Woman Award 2021 from the Town hall of Sant Quirze del Vallès.
• Honorary Doctorate from the University of Illes Balears (UIB).
• Honorary Award 2021 from the Progresist University of Catalonia.
• Woman of Courage Award 2021 from the United Nations Anima (UNANIMA).
• Extremadura Global 2021 Award from the Government of Extremadura.
• ACAMPA International Human Rights Recognition 2022.
• Humanizar 2022 Award from the Spanish Center for the Humanization of Health.

Books Written by Helena

Helena Maleno has also shared her knowledge and experiences in several books:

• "Gender Transitions Along Borders. The Northern Borderlands of Mexico and Morocco" (2016) - She was a co-author of this book.
• "Todas: crónicas de violencias contra las mujeres" (2018) - She was also a co-author of this book, which means "All: chronicles of violence against women."
• "Mujer de Frontera" (2020) - This book means "Woman of the Border."

Images for kids

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  Helena Maleno Garzón

See also

In Spanish: Helena Maleno para niños