WUNRN
GUATEMALA - COMMUNITY-BASED WOMEN
WORKERS ADDRESS
GENDER VIOLENCE, FEMICIDE, RIGHTS,
HEALTH, EDUCATION
The
Problem
Guatemala is facing epidemic levels of violence against women.
Over the past decade, almost 4,000 women and young girls have been murdered.
Many of them were raped and mutilated, their bodies discarded in public places.
Despite the high prevalence of femicide (the gender-based murder of women) and
gender-based violence in Guatemala, little has been done to counter it. These attacks are
rarely investigated and fewer than one percent of cases have been brought to
trial.
Neo-liberal economic policies have lined the pockets of agribusinesses and have
driven farmers and small-business owners into low-paying, high-risk jobs at maquilas (sweatshops) in
the cities. Without the protection of unions, Guatemala's 80,000 maquila workers suffer deplorable conditions
and earn subsistence wages. The massive exodus from the countryside has also
forced families to live in impoverished settlements on the outskirts of Guatemala City, where people lack access to basic human rights such as
clean drinking water, sanitation and health care.
Women living in these conditions and working in maquilas face violence in the
workplace, at home and on the streets, where there is no street lighting or
reliable police protection. Women who speak out for their rights and against
the epidemic of violence in Guatemala have been threatened and harassed.
The
Solution
MADRE and our partners at the Barcenas Women Workers’ Committee are
promoting health and security for women and families in the Barcenas
neighborhood of Guatemala
City through a
combination of community-based projects and human rights advocacy. Together, we
are:
- Enhancing security by
creating neighborhood watch groups in the communities. We offer group
sessions for women to learn basic safety precautions they can take, and we equip women in the community with flashlights and
whistles as an additional safety measure.
- Conducting
labor rights and human rights trainings for women to learn to identify
and defend their rights, both on and off the factory floor. We offer
community skills-building classes in order to provide them with options
beyond work in maquilas in the hopes of breaking the cycle of poverty
which often goes hand-in-hand with violence.
- Providing
reproductive health services for women who have no other
source of healthcare. We facilitate health fairs where women and children
learn about health and hygiene. At the fairs women receive free Pap
smears, health and hygiene supplies, vaccinations, school supplies for
their children, and vital information about family planning, nutrition,
and preventive health care.
- Advocating
for change by encouraging women to report instances of abuse,
and provide a supportive and safe space for women to discuss sexual and
psychological violence they have endured in the home or workplace. At the
international level, the Women Workers’ Committee is speaking out against
violence against women. With support from MADRE, the Committee is
presenting information about violence and human rights abuses in
conjunction with the United Nations campaign to end violence against
women, UNITE.
- Women in
Barcenas are better equipped to demand their rights--in the workplace, in
the community and in the home.
- Women who
have been denied the right to an education are learning to read and write
and learning new skills which provide them with more job options.
Currently, there are 5,500 women, young adults and children enrolled in
the literacy program.
- Women are
learning what precautions they can take for their own safety. They are
carrying flashlights and whistles, and they walk in groups when they can.
- The women
of Barcenas are building an enduring social network needed to sustain a
struggle for human rights.
- Women are
active participants in finding solutions to the epidemic of violence.
- Women in
the community are speaking out against the violence they face and
advocating for their own rights. The testimony that they provide is used at
the local, national and international levels to compile reports on gender
based violence. These reports will be used as advocacy tools for the
Women Workers’ Committee, and as models to help other women’s groups
mobilize against violence in their communities