The Hester Foundation

The Hester Foundation was founded in 2005 by Arsène van Nierop, the mother of Hester van Nierop who was murdered in 1998 in the Mexican border town of Ciudad Juárez. This was only based on the fact that she was a woman. Feminicide in this city occurs extremely often. The Hester Foundation is dedicated to helping women in Central America, and the women of Ciudad Juárez in particular. In recent years, there has been a staggering increase in violence in this region because of the war on drugs. At the same time, the attention being paid to violence against women is fading, and this is unjust. The aim of the Hester foundation is to empower women who are victims of violence and to support the families of the hundreds of girls and women who have been murdered or who have disappeared. To this end, the Hester Foundation supports the local NGO Casa Amiga. In addition, we continue to knock on political doors in the Netherlands and in the European Parliament asking politicians to urgently request the Mexican government to implement its own justice system. We are also fighting for clarification of the events surrounding the murder of Hester van Nierop, the only Dutch victim of the feminicidios. The assassination of women just because they are women….

The “ Hester Foundation” continues to draw attention to the violence against women in this region also on an international level. The case of Hester was presented to the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights in Washington in September 2011. The ultimate goal is that the Mexican government accepts its responsibility. The case brings hope to the Hester Foundation and this is behind the organization of the art exhibition :
Art of hope, Arte de la Esperanza.

Gerdi Verbeet, Speaker of the Dutch parliament, will open the exhibition on 11 April. The exhibition ends with an auction on Saturday 21 April. The auctioneer is Benthe Tübker from Christie’s. All the money raised by the auction will benefit the Hester Foundation. To see the works of art you can download the auction catalogue at www.Hester.nu

Besides buying a work of art, you can support the “ Hester Foundation “ by donating a gift into one of the following Bank accounts, mentioning “ Arte de la Esperanza”
ABN AMRO 40.09.28.442 or ING 530 84 98 “ Stichting Hester” in The Hague.

Sincerely yours,

Arsène van Nierop
Chairman of the Hester foundation
0703461837
0654952135
www.hester.nu