Helena Maleno

Human rights defender, journalist and Spanish-Moroccan researcher specialized in migration and human trafficking, especially of women and children, PhD honoris causa by the UIB. She is the founder of the collective Caminando Fronteras, which supports the sub-Saharan migrant communities during their migratory process and also denounces the human rights violations that occur at the southern Spanish border. Her activism in defense of life on the border has led her to suffer a process of criminalization by the Spanish state and Morocco, but she has also received numerous awards in the field of human rights, such as the International Peace Bureau Award. In the field of human rights counseling, she has worked as an independent consultant for Women's Link Worldwide, Save the Children and Alianza por la Solidaridad. She is the author of the book Mujer de frontera. Defending the right to life is not a crime (Península, 2020).