Mexican Activist Recreates a ‘Barbie’ That Raises Awareness of Missing Persons Crisis
The Barbie phenomenon continues, but it’s not all roses. Mexican activist Delia Quiroa is using the brand to raise her voice for people seeking justice in her country with the “Barbie .”
The artist and lawyer created the doll to bring the world—and Mattel‘s— attention to the 111,000 missing people in Mexico, El Financiero reports.
Barbie’s outfit doesn’t go unnoticed. Wearing a t-shirt featuring a photo of her brother, Roberto Quiroa, who disappeared in 2014, Quiroa made her clothes using recycled pieces of the ones she wore during the search for her relative by local police. A vendor donated the shoes.
Quiroa’s brother and mother were kidnapped in 2013, then he disappeared in 2014
An unknown person or group abducted Quiroa’s brother in September 2013, causing her great pain and a sense of helplessness.
In contrast, the Gulf Cartel demanded payments from her mother, María Valdez, to keep her restaurant open in Reynosa, Tamaulipas.
The Daily Mail informed kidnappers released her young brother approximately three days after the family paid for the rescue.
However, history repeated itself. The second time, they kidnapped her brother and mother in March 2014. They released Valdez after 40 days, but not her brother. The family still has no information on his whereabouts.
The “Barbie Buscadora” honors relatives who never lose hope of finding their missing loved ones
In an AP interview, the activist explained she crafted this doll to honor the hope of mothers, sisters, and wives who will never stop looking for their family members. She added it is also a call to the government to do something about this issue.
“The main is reason is to highlight we have a crisis in Mexico of missing persons and that, unfortunately, our government is not taking the right actions or any action at all to solve the problem or try to prevent disappearances,” she said.
The group Collective of Mothers in Search of Tamaulipas is raising funds by selling the doll for 500 Mexican pesos (about $29) on mercadolibre.com.mx.
Quiroa explains that with the money raised from the sales, they seek to buy two trucks to support investigations still pending closure.
