Woman at Work for Annabelle Magazine (2021)
Lorraine Mesa, Prosecutor, El Salvador.
What are you doing right now?
We are arresting two gang members, a 21-year-old woman accused of extortion, and her partner, a leader of the Mala Salvatrucha gang, accused of eight crimes, including murder.
What would you rather be doing right now? Sleep. It’s 5 o’clock and the operation starts at 11 o’clock. What do you like about your job? When I started law school, I never thought I would become a prosecutor in the anti-gang unit. What I like about my job is catching criminals and making my country safer.
And what could you do without?
The hours of operation. Today I had to leave my kids crying because they didn’t want me to go. I laid down in bed with them to calm them down and said I’d be home for breakfast.
At 36, Lorraine Mesa is the youngest female prosecutor in El Salvador. Her husband is also a prosecutor, and together they have two children. She works around 45 hours a week and earns 1100 US dollars monthly.
