Mother of Slain Dutch Tourist Returns to Borderlands Bringing Hope Lorena Figueroa - El Paso Times
go to original May 14, 2014

Pink crosses, photos and names are displayed at the memorial dedicated for women murder victims in Ciudad Juárez. (Mónica Ortiz Uribe/Fronteras Desk)

Un grito de socorro desde Juarez / A cry for help from Juarez by Arsene Van Nierop-Seipgens Check it out on Amazon.com

The mother of Hester van Nierop, a Dutch tourist who was killed in Juárez 16 years ago, is certain that her daughter's death has not been in vain.

Hester van Nierop's slaying helped bring the issue of violence against women to the forefront in Mexico and in Holland, the mother, Arsene van Nierop, said.

"I would prefer to have my daughter alive, but that's not possible. The only thing I can do now is to be strong and help other mothers who have lost their daughters in their fight for justice," the 67-year-old Arsene van Nierop said.

As a way to help victims of violence and their families van Nierop wrote a book "Un grito de socorro desde Juárez," (A Cry for Help from Juárez.) The book's proceeds will go to Casa Amiga, a women's rape crisis center in Juárez.

In her book she talks about the events surrounding Hester van Nierop's death, her grief of losing her daughter and frustration with the Mexican authorities in bringing to justice her daughter's alleged killer, who was finally arrested in January of this year.

Arsene van Nierop was in Las Cruces last week to talk about the book after it was released in Mexico City earlier this month. She still lives in the suburbs of the Hague, Netherlands. While in the area, she also went to Juárez to talk about her book and place her daughter Hester's name at the Cotton Field Monument.

The monument was established in the fall of 2012 in a cotton field in southeast Juárez where eight girls and young women were found slain in November 2001.

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