When Ximena Andión Ibañez started working at one of the mainstream human rights organizations in Mexico some twenty years ago, she encountered various cases that have to do with Gender-Based Violence (GBV), especially those in the northern region of Mexico, which involved the killing and disappearance of women and girls. But her organization’s work didn’t include gender equality, so she pushed very hard for women’s issues to be part of the organization’s agenda. That experience shaped her into a staunch human rights defender and feminist.
After working in various human rights organizations globally, Ximena decided to move back to her home country, Mexico, to give back. The result is the creation of an organization that provides access to justice for women. In the process, she discovered that transparency and accountability tool is very much needed to move change forward.
Today, Ximena works with the Ford Foundation Civic Engagement and Government team as a program officer in the Foundation’s Mexico and Central America office, leading the portfolio for civic change and governance in the region.
We spoke to Ximena on the need to push the boundaries of current legal framework to create synergy between fields to achieve transparency and accountability.
“We need to think radically about the changes we want to see in the society,” she says.