WUNRN
INDIGENOUS WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP -
LATIN AMERICA
Indigenous women have and continue to play
key leadership roles in their communities as well as in international spaces.
AWID talked to Otilia Lux de Coti, Executive Director of the Indigenous Women’s
Forum (IIWF) about how indigenous women leadership has evolved in the past
decades.
By Gabriela De Cicco – 25 January 2013
In the late 80s, several indigenous women
like Nina Pacari Vega and Blanca Chancoso (
In 1991 a second meeting of the campaign 500
Years of Indigenous and Popular Resistance took place in
AWID: What factors contributed to
empowering indigenous women so they could become leaders?
Otilia Lux de Coti (OLC): There were
several elements that contributed to their leadership. In the 80s the Cold War
prompted women to participate and mobilize within peasant and indigenous
organizations. In the case of Rigoberta and other women leaders, they had been
left activists. This kind of political work makes women empower themselves and
become important leaders.
Different institutions devoted themselves
to create social promoters, providing activities for economic growth and also
for political participation. Through the social arm of the Catholic Church
there were several programs promoting women’s participation. Political parties
of a Christian Social nature (that was how they were named) also promoted a lot
of youth participation, calling people to participate to help communities from
a communal perspective. For instance, in
Another important factor for women, as a
starting point in their leadership, is to have a role model in the family; it
could be the mother or grandmother, who contributes to shaping the woman leader’s
character. Education is also important and if the woman is able to go to
school, some schools encourage and provide opportunities for students to
organize themselves under self-rule schemes, training girls, adolescents and
women to keep the spirit of participation alive. This is the starting point in
political participation. Later there are political training schools like the
one International Indigenous Women´s Forum (IIWF)
has, which provides certification programs that foster leadership.
Several young women are being trained on
political leadership and in FIMI we have seen twenty indigenous women develop
their skills and now they are qualified in statistics, which is very important
for advocacy in the national census or to create institutions that are able to
disaggregate data for example.
AWID: How have indigenous women built
their leadership in their communities?
OLC: There are different ways for women to
assert their leadership. One way, is by being the authority of an organization,
for instance the indigenous mayors, even though in some cases they are not
recognized by the State. In Mayan institutionalism, when a woman is elected, it
is because she has proven herself capable, and also because she has served and
helped the community and is always active . There are women who submit
community projects to State bodies, championing them and doing political events
together with other women from the community.
Another type of leadership occurs in the
field of health with women who have been trained to become indigenous
healers as well as midwives. Another is that of women producers, because
economic empowerment is important to highlight, so that women have
opportunities to increase production, as in the case of vegetable and flower
production. This can be seen in Ecuadorean and Bolivian markets where many
women leaders practice “buen vivir”,
something they have learned in their families since they were children.
AWID: What obstacles do indigenous women
face in participating in decision-making spaces?
OLC: Violence, patriarchy and racism are
the main obstacles. That machismo you see for instance in almost all the
men involved in political parties, who do not allow women to enter those spaces
in which they could be elected. In addition to that, the political system
blocks women’s political participation, we need an electoral law that includes
quotas and political party reform. But in the case of indigenous populations,
this is quite hard. In countries with an indigenous majority they are asking
for real parity and equality so there is an indigenous and a mestiza
woman and a mestizo and indigenous man.
Violence and threats stop many women from
political proselytizing. It stops them from doing many things for their own
development and the lack of funding also limits women’s participation.
AWID: How is leadership understood and
lived across generations?
OLC: We look at young women with a lot of
admiration and young women see us as their female ancestors. They see us as
role models and teachers. They have witnessed us participating at the
United Nations (UN), becoming ministers and members of parliament and they want
to the same, and they ask us how they can do this. We respond by saying that
first, they need to participate in women’s and people’s organizations because
that is where you cut your political teeth and where you learn how to communicate,
how to participate in the community, how to do advocacy, how to negotiate.
Young women see a big bridge between them and us. Our goal as adult women is to
do intergenerational work with young women.
AWID: Is it right to say that young women
bring about a new type of leadership?
OLC: Yes, today women can assert
their leadership more freely, they don’t have the huge restrictions we had
during the Cold War. I believe the leadership of today’s young women is one
with larger opportunities and some organizations are making it easier for them
to access training and education. Every year we see many young women attending
the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
and the Geneva Human Rights Fora. In Honduras and Nicaragua, young women have
come together to create their own organizations and they work on issues like
violence against women, sexual and reproductive health, political
participation, the role of youth, governance, women’s and indigenous peoples’
rights. At Rio+20, we saw young women working hard
and asserting their leadership, they give us hope and we must continue to
support them.
Translator: Alejandra Sardá-Chandiramani
NOTES:
1) Tarcila Rivera Zea, was elected as a UN
Women consultant in May 2012