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Guatemala Indigenous Women

Decent Essays
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Guatemala’s Congress is coming under fire for “racism and discrimination”, specifically against indigenous women. This issue has not been plaguing Guatemala alone, it is an issue that has been prominent since the beginning of time. Indigenous women are not only discriminated against for their gender, but they are also being discriminated against for being indigenous. Women in Guatemala represent more than half the 15.8 million. After the signing of the Peace Accords in 1996, several mechanisms specifically for women were created. Laws were issued for women’s comprehensive development, domestic violence, sexual violence, trafficking, exploitation, femicide and other forms of violence. Despite all the progress, it still comes down to the …show more content…

Nevertheless, their wives and daughters are forced to maintain their culture through dress, language and tradition. The fear of assimilation prevents girls from attending institutions such as schools run by men who fear a growth in education, will result in an enlightenment in women. The indigenous girls of Guatemala have household responsibilities such as cooking, cleaning, taking care of younger siblings, and are encouraged “to be seen and not heard.” These women face a mountain of obstacles to maintain the basics of human rights. Descendants of the Mayan tribe, the Q’eqchi people took their testimonies to the Supreme Court and demanded justice for crimes committed during Guatemala’s internal armed conflict which lasted from 1960-1996. These testimonies included sexual violence, domestic slaveries and murder inflicted by military detachments for the sole purpose of terminating local inhabitants. However, none of these officers faced the penalty for what they did. Instead, they continued to force these women to live in inhumane conditions, gang rape them, and on top of it forced them into slavery. There is no way to stress how important it is to dismantle the culture of impunity surrounding sexual violence. Fortunately, Indigenous women are increasingly using national courts to their advantage to pursue justice for conflict-related violence. The Sepur …show more content…

What multiplied disadvantage is, is that men and women divided simply can’t exist, and in society, inclusion really matters. We see the tentacles of multiplied disadvantage in the nexus between ethnicity and gender. Acts of violence inflicted on indigenous women follow on from such intersecting prejudices. Research and empirical evidence show that successful prevention and response to violence against women and girls are more sustainable if they form part of comprehensive and multisectoral interventions. Attracting representation must be accompanied by investments in research and data collection relevant monitoring and evaluation, respect for indigenous peoples rights to self-determination, the maintenance of their cultures, lands, territories and resources, the full operationalization of free, prior and informed consent; and access to formal and informal systems of justice in line with the United Nations. The Office for the Defense of Indigenous Women (DEMI) was set up to promote the full realization of their rights and contribute to the eradication of all forms of violence. The UN Women Guatemala’s Program works to guarantee women’s rights through empowerment, supporting the generation of knowledge and giving technical assistance. Although Guatemala has made some progress, it is nowhere near the apex they are striving to get to. Using the USA as an example for their

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