For Vilma Nuñez and many of her fellow campaigners, the developments in their home country are bitter. Much of what they built up through decades of work has been destroyed. But the idea of giving up is not an option for the women born in 1938 as the illegitimate daughter of poor parents, first growing up in a rural area and later in the town of León. After all, as a child she had to learn to fight against adversity: the fact that her parents were not married was a scandal. As was the fact that her father was a member of the conservative party and was therefore repeatedly imprisoned for political reasons.

Vilma Nuñez decided to campaign against this situation. After completing her law studies, she first worked as a lawyer in León and in the 1970s represented political prisoners in court, without payment. In 1975 she became a member of the Sandinista Party. Three years later she founded the regional group of the Nicaraguan Permanent Commission of Human Rights, took part in gatherings and protest marches of the Sandinista, was imprisoned and tortured. After the victory of the Nicaraguan revolution, she worked as deputy chairperson of the High Court and subsequently headed the National Commission for Human Rights.