The Problem Identified:. Every Day People Are Faced With

The Mayan people’s struggle for equality led to tensions with the government of Guatemala. Since Mayans are the indigenous people of the country, they felt they should have the same opportunities and recognition as other ethnic groups in the region (Genocide). However, “when Spanish explorers conquered this region in the 16th century, the Mayans became slaves in their own homeland” (ibid). The Mayans were no longer able to exercise their rights, and lost their identity in their homeland. As a result, in the 1970s, the Mayans decided to take matters into their own hands and rebel against the Guatemalan government (GUATEMALA 1982). Years of pent up aggression were finally being expressed, but the government

In, “Testimony: Death of a Guatemalan Village,” Victor Montejo describes events surrounding the military régimes occurring throughout Guatemala. The book itself is an eyewitness account detailing one instance of violence between the indigenous peoples village's "civil patrol" and the army. This occurrence leads to the execution and imprisonment of many villagers. Even though the book is mainly a testimony by one person, in which he discusses the personal conflicts and struggle between himself and the army, the account is structured around the Guatemalan civil war and the conflict between the government and civilians. The Guatemalan Civil War occurred between the years 1960 to 1996. It was a battle between the government of Guatemala and

Throughout history, women have continuously found themselves as the subjects of oppression. Although the treatment of women has drastically changed over time, women are still exposed to much of the violence that exists today. Per the National Organization for Women, “young women, low-income women and some minorities are disproportionately victims of domestic violence and rape” (National Organization for Women, 2016). Women-centered violence is highly prevalent and reoccurring all over the world, even in our local communities. Individuals may be hesitant to consider just how much violence against women affects their communities.

In the literature review the main focus will be on the causes of the violence or abuse as well as the consequences that the victims go through. Among Hispanic women, there are women who are least likely to seek help or treatment after they have suffered abuse (Cho 2012).

During the 1970’s more and more protests and uprisings in the capital and the southwest part of the nation became very frequent, and overtime, very violent. The Peace Pledge Union expressed a dramatic and detailed example of the violent acts that the military of Guatemala practiced on Indian natives in search of subversives,

Guatemala is a beautiful country that is known for its many Mayan cites, rich culture and its wide rainforest. The country has volcanos, delicious foods and a wonderful atmosphere that make for a rich tourist attraction. But the country has a history that isn’t as wonderful as I have made it sound. This country has endured a very tragic Civil War that started in 1960 and ended in 1996. This 36 year war was devastating to this country because of the many deaths that had happened and because of all of the tragic moments that happened within the span of the war. The Guatemalan Civil War was one of the many acts of genocide that have happened all around the world but even though there were many tragedies this country has developed past it and become the beautiful

Currently Mexican and Chilean women and society have experimented many changes in their living standards. There has been an incredible change in the way that women are being treated, especially by male gender. Nowadays, Femicide is one of the most important issues in Chile, where exists a huge amount of cases of it, additionally it has been considered that more than one hundred women have been murdered by their husbands, boyfriends or friends during the last years. In relation to this, Chilean government paid little attention to the situation, because until 2010 violence against women had been considered domestic violence and not as femicide.

Hardbine’s corpse” (134). In Guatemala City, it is evident the police will do anything to

Central American women are at an even greater risk of experiencing sexual abuse and other types of violence during their migration to the United States, especially in recent years, because of the spreading of gangs. In 2015, “nearly 110,000 people fleeing worsening gang and other violence in Central America’s northern triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras sought asylum abroad.” Many times, Central Americans are attempting to escape the possibility of being sexually assaulted by gangs. However, not everyone has the time to apply for asylum because they are in immediate danger. For example, Sara Rincon, a college student from El Salvador testifies: ““He said no woman had ever turned him down, and if I refused to be his girlfriend, he would kill me and my family. I didn’t want to leave home but after that we couldn’t stay; we left for Mexico in the middle of the night.” Because Rincon and her family had to leave spontaneously, they are most likely going to be traveling undocumented, just like many other immigrants attempting to escape gang violence in Central America. Therefore, they must migrate through Mexico with the possibility of even more traumatic events ahead of them.

These trends, however, do not account for the whole country because they differ from place to place. The case of Ciudad Juarez is particularly extreme and, sometimes, shocking. Ciudad Juarez is a city of 1.3 million people across from El Paso, Texas. Although Ciudad Juarez is incredibly rich in nature and culture, in the last couple of years, it has not been known because of these virtues; instead, it has been all over the news due to its homicide rates, which have had peak rates greater than many war zones. One particular aspect that characterizes the homicides of this city is the high level of “feminicidios” (femicides or feminicides in English) that have taken place in the last two decades. In fact, more than 300 women have been murdered

Victoria Sanford’s Buried Secrets: Truth and Human Rights in Guatemala is about La Violencia, a time in Guatemalan history where “the Guatemalan army” was blamed “for 93 percent of the human rights violations, violations that were so severe and systematically enacted against the whole Maya communities” (Sanford 14). It has been concluded that La Violencia, the acts that the Guatemalan army had committed were “acts of genocide against the Maya” (Sanford 14). After all was said and done, and these horrific actions had been committed against the Maya it was important for them to show the truth about what had happened to them. In Sanford’s book she has a quote from Juan Manuel Gerónimo where he says, “We want people to know what happened here so that it does not happen here again, or in some other village in Guatemala, or in some other department, or in some

In every country in Latin America and the Caribbean, women suffer acute discrimination. Often, the discrimination women face is related to social prejudices regarding appropriate patterns of conduct for men and women. This entrenched sex inequality provides the backdrop for the pervasive and widespread human rights violations women face in the region, with little chance of justice. The most pernicious types of women's human rights abuses in the Americas occur in the areas of women's reproductive and sexual health and rights, discrimination and violence against women in the workplace, and violence against women in the home. After decades of dictatorships in some countries, democracy has not meant an end to impunity for violations of women

In Mexico, a country ravaged by chronic corruption, poverty, insecurity and instability, women have been subjected to a ‘femicide’. Indeed, since the early 90s, more than 370 women have been murdered in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua. Since then, it has spread throughout the country. The word ‘femicide’ was coined by feminist activist and academic Diana E.H. Russel and refers to the ‘misogynous killing of women by men’. In Mexico, same as in the CAR, violence against women is an expression of male domination and power. It has been ‘naturalized’ in contemporary cultures becoming deeply embedded. The mere fact of being born a female implies the designation to a specific category of lesser importance, a subordinated one to the institutionalised patriarchy. This subordination enhances the already existing inequalities between male and females. This translates into action, going from demeaning and degrading behaviours, objectification, exploitation and shaming, to physical violence and, ultimately murder or

Femicide is not a common word in our vocabulary. We don't go around talking about it or debating it in class. Our society doesn't take much notice of victims of this heartless crime, but it should. According to UN Women, “Femicide is a crime involving the violent and deliberate killing of a woman.” In Guatemala there is an average of two women killed everyday. There are many types of this hateful crime including intimate partner femicide, racial femicide, lesbicide, and honor killing related femicide. Intimate partner femicide is when someone such as a boyfriend or husband kills a woman because she is a woman and in their eyes she has done something wrong. In 1996, there were about 840,000 incidents of rape, sexual assault,robbery, aggravated

Violence takes many forms: it can be physical, psychological, sexual, economic, and even within families, or combinations of one or more of these. In most cases, the violence has been “acceptable” because of the cultural traditions that are largely respected. However, with the increasing emergence of the women’s movement internationally and even within Mexico itself, many Mexican males regard their roles as belittled. There has been a subtle and sometimes obvious backlash against the women’s movement, especially if women have independent living or income possibilities. In a culture in which violence is the norm, beatings, rape, torture, mutilation, and even murder are frequently overlooked. This has been painfully evident in the cases of mass murders of young women in Ciudad Juarez.