Raquel Sánchez
Raquel Sánchez, is a lawyer, woman human rights defender and coordinator of the Venezuelan Penal Forum, Táchira office, a non-governmental organisation that provides legal assistance to arbitrarily detained persons. Raquel is also a member of the Grupo de Trabajo Defensoras del Táchira, a group of women defenders who, since 2018, have documented cases of human rights violations in Táchira and provided support for victims.
HRDs have been working under restrictive policies for many years: the Maduro administration has continued the work begun by Chávez in restricting civil space and delegitimising HRDs, repeatedly accusing them of undermining the Venezuelan democracy with the alleged collaboration of the United States. HRDs are discredited and criminalised by state-controlled media (television, radio, print media) on a weekly basis.
