The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (Spanish: Asociación Madres de Plaza de Mayo) is an association of Argentine mothers whose children were "disappeared" during the Dirty War of the military dictatorship, between 1976 and 1983. They organized while trying to learn what had happened to their children, and began to march in 1977 at the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, in front of the Casa Rosada presidential palace, in public defiance of the government's state terrorism intended to silence all opposition.

For more than 6 years Argentina was lead by a dictaorship and in that time more than 30,000 men, (mainly) women and children went missing. If people or their families spoke out about the regime they were put in a military jail and killed. If people gathered in Plaza de Mayo, directly outside the Casa de Rosa in groups of 3 or more they were arrested and many killed.The mothers were a group of 14. They gather in 4 groups of 3 and one of 2 and silently demonstrted around the Plaza de Mayo. Women in their 40s at the time, were nearly arrested but the police took pity on them and they have been protesting about inequality and human rights ever since.

The years of 1976 to 1983 in Argentina are referred to as the “Dirty War” period. To the people of the country, this era represents the lives taken, families broken, and numerous human rights atrocities executed by Argentina's military regime. The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo were the initial responders to these human rights violations. Together, the women created a dynamic and unexpected force, which existed in opposition to traditional limitations on women and motherhood in Latin America. The mothers came together, and pushed for information on the whereabouts of their children. In carrying out these efforts they also highlighted for the world the human rights violations occurring, and raised awareness on local and global scales. Their legacy and subsequent progress have been successful due to their sustained group organization, use of symbols and slogans, and silent weekly protests. Today, the Mothers are persistently engaged in the struggle for human, political, and civil rights in Latin America and elsewhere