The Carmen Sanchez Foundation was born in January 2021 with the aim of preventing, treating, eradicating, investigating and punishing attacks with acid or other corrosive substances on Mexican women for situations related to sexist violence.

We are the first civil association in Mexico created with this objective and the first in the world that seeks to make visible the causes and consequences of acid violence from a feminist perspective.

What We Do

Make visible the cases of acid attacks against Mexican women in the country's public agenda

In Mexico there are no official figures on the number of attacks on women, but at the Carmen Sánchez Foundation we have a record of 28 victims in the last two decades

The states that most report these crimes are CDMX, Puebla and Mexico State

Of the 28 female victims, only 22 have managed to survive

In most cases, the victims were between 20 and 30 years old

In 85% of the cases the mastermind was a man - 5 of them were partners and 11 of them were ex-partners

In 90% of cases, the attack has been directed at the face

Most of the crimes were committed in the street, but 4 of them in the house or the front door

More than 30% of the attacks were committed by two or more people - either as material actors or as intellectuals

In 96% of the cases there has been no sentence, but 4 aggressors have already been linked to the process: 3 for attempted femicide and one for family violence

Accompany the victims and their families in the medical, legal and psychological process

As in practically all cases, the victims have had to face a medical service that minimizes their injuries and discriminates against them, a justice system that does not inform them of their rights or put their aggressors in jail, a society that It puts obstacles for them to rejoin life and a State that is indifferent and ignores, accompanying the victims and their families becomes vital in this type of situation.

Manage strategic alliances with the public and private sectors to prevent, investigate, address, eradicate and punish these crimes

Given the complexity and seriousness that exists around acid attacks, we are building strategic alliances together with activists, researchers, academics, social workers, health professionals, lawyers, public officials and legislators: both nationally and internationally to:

1) Propose initiatives and legal reforms that criminalize acid attacks as autonomous crimes, with more severe penalties for aggressors that will increase according to the type of aggravating circumstance and without any type of judicial benefit for the accused, as well as penalties for prosecutors, prosecutors, public ministries and judges who maliciously or through negligence obstruct or hinder the process of investigation and judicialization of the files.

2) Action routes to know what to do and how to act in the event of an acid attack.

3) Specialized care protocols that include a broad conceptualization of acid attacks, the types of acid, the injuries caused and the type of damage (physical, psychological, economic and life project).

4) Manuals for changing narratives in the media that violate the dignity and integrity of the victims.