GUATEMALA HUMAN RIGHTS DELEGATION

1. VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AUGUST 1-9, 2009 GUATEMALA HUMAN RIGHTS DELEGATION

2. Guatemala LAND: Covering 42,043 square miles. Guatemala is smaller than Tennessee Population of about 14 million – 40 % indigenous & 60 % ladinos (mixed)

3. History • The Mayan Empire flourished for more than 1000 years before the arrival of the Spanish • Military dictatorships controlled Guatemala until a 1944 revolution • Colonel Carlos Castillo ascends to power in a coup backed by the US in 1954 • A number of guerilla groups organize in armed resistance – the military embarks on a program to eliminate left winders – resulting in 50,000 deaths

4. History • A series of repressive regimes followed, and by 1960 the country was plunged into a civil war that would last 36 years • Peace talks begin in 1994 – Alvara Arzu elected president and signs peace agreement with guerillas in 1996 – 150,000 dead and 47,000 disappeared, over one million displaced. • Guatemalan Archbishop’s Human Rights Office releases REMHI report on the atrocities committed during the war. 2 days later the REMHI project coordinator Monsenor Gerardi is brutally murdered.

5. Femicide • Femicide is officially defined as the murder of a woman because of her gender. • Feminicide holds responsible not only the male perpetrators but also the sate and judicial structures that normalize misogyny , tolerate the perpetrators’ acts of violence, or deny state responsibility to ensure the safety of its female citizens.

6. Statistics on Femicide in Guatemala According to the Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office

7. Number of Femicides per year Total 4,159 2006–2008 = 239 % increase

8. Context: IPV in USA & Virginia- Guatemalaone death is too many Virginia – population 7,769,089 (July 2008) between 1999 & 2007 = 8 years Total Intimate Partner Fatalities = 575 Total Women = 433 _______________________________________ In 2005, 1,181 females and 329 males were killed by their intimate partners in the United States. Intimate partner homicides constituted 11 percent of all homicides between 1976 and 2005. (Homicide Reports of the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting) ____________________________________________________________ Guatemala - population - 14 million (size of Tennessee) between 2000 & 2008 = 4,159 w0men killed

9. Delegation 2009 ‘Women’s Right to Live’ Delegation #1 • 7 days • 15 meetings with groups/individuals, • 15 members of the delegation 14 women, one man from a variety of walks of life, a variety of perspectives 7 members from Richmond – 4 with VCU connections

10. GHRC – Delegation Aug 1-9

11. Delegation goals • To understand the reality of violence for women in Guatemala • To learn, and to witness first-hand the suffering, pain, anger and human rights abuses. • To participate in activism and solidarity • To share the experience as part of a team of activists/concerned US Citizens • To take action by raising awareness and increasing support for human rights in Guatemala

12. Delegation Meetings • STITCH a women workers & violence in the workplace union • UPAVIM Crafts is a cooperative UPAVIM = together for a better life • Gladys Monterroso a lawyer, law professor, political party secretary, wife of Procurador, victim of a March 25, 2009 kidnapping/torture • Survivors Foundation NGO domestic violence services & a victims’ shelter

13. Delegation Meetings • Myrna Mack Foundation works in the development of studies and proposals aimed at boosting the fight against impunity • Rosa Franco’s daughter Maria Isabel Franco was 15 years old when she was killed- fighting for justice • Sandra Moran of Women’s Sector at Casa Artesana • Carolina Alvarado of the Presbyterian Kachikel Health Clinic in Chimaltenango provides medical, psychological, legal services • Nuevos Horizontes domestic violence services are provided as a holistic integrated service center

14. Delegation Meetings • Project CODECOT midwives project works in 20 municipalities with over 700 midwives, a holistic training school • Highland Support Projectsponsored women's micro-enterprise project in the small Mayan Mam village of Espumpuja outside of Zunil. Women’s Circles - Cultural exchange • ACAM Midwives project in Concepcion Chiquirichapa. work with 3 area villages to bring services and education to the women and families of these communities. Stories of Mayan culture and beliefs • Xajaxac-Community Radio Station – Solola -Don Felipe started the station 11 years ago as a Mayan radio station serving over 10,000 people in a 10 km area of 8 nearby villages. • Ana Gladis Ollas – Human Rights Ombudsman in the women’s sector . Her work is within government yet part of civil society organization.

15. Delegation Meetings US Embassy meeting – Our message we want the United States to consider Violence Against Women a priority in funding and in programmatic and strategic areas. We addressed 5 areas • rule of law/impunity and democracy • databases that have been required by law for years - data that would provide consistent and reliable information on the demographic and investigative characteristics of femicide cases • funding for domestic violence programs in all 22 departments, • education which would focus on economic justice and prevention, • and discrimination against indigenous women

16. Fear – Silence Caution Machismo Can Kill

17. Socio-Political Context Violence Against Women in Guatemala What we learned: • With a population under 14 million, Guatemala registered over 4,300 violent murders of women from 2000 to 2008 and shockingly 98% of the cases remain unsolved. • April 9, 2008 – Guatemalan congress passed the Law Against Femicide and Other Forms of Violence Against Women.

18. Context • A violent past – 36 years of internal armed conflict • “post-war” retired army = increased criminal operations • Narco-trafficking – has increased along with poverty (80% of US cocaine passes through Guatemala) • Gang violence • A culture of violence social factors: machismo/misogyny • Domestic violence – amidst rigid sex roles/expectations • Guatemalan police force is understaffed, lacks training and is notoriously corrupt • Impunity –an inefficient and corrupt government system

19. Violent Past • The internal armed conflict, classified as genocide by the United Nations, contributed heavily to the legacy of violence in Guatemala, including violence against women. With torture regularly used as a military technique, the torment that women faced was of a particularly sadistic nature. • Two comprehensive reports document the extent of the sexual abuses carried out against women during the war. The vast majority who suffered sexual violence were of Mayan descent (88.7%). It has been estimated that 50,000 women and girls were victims of violence.

20. A Lack of Rule of Law Impunity = exemption or freedom from punishment, harm, or loss • Between 2005 & 2007 only 2 % of 2,000 cases involving the violent deaths of women were ‘ resolved’ (some without convictions) • Dysfunctional judicial system • Corrupt or indifferent police • Domestic violence dismissed as “private” • Investigations delayed by dismissing victims as prostitutes, gang members, or criminals

21. OUTRAGE Helicopters vs Women The US recently authorized $20 million of our money to be used in helicopter purchases for Guatemala and the D.R. While only $500,000 is earmarked for USAID programs addressing violence against women each year for the past three years.

22. Not enough outrage • But, as Toronto author Brian Vallee points out in his 2007 book The War on Women, nobody counts the dead, nobody connects the dots, nobody calls out the problem. "Compare the raw numbers," he writes of the period 2000-06. "In the same seven-year period when 4,588 U.S. soldiers and police officers were killed by hostiles or by accident, more than 8,000 women - nearly twice as many - were shot, stabbed, strangled, or beaten to death by the intimate males in their lives. In Canada, compared to the 101 Canadian soldiers and police officers killed, more than 500 women - nearly five times as many - met the same fate." There's not enough outrage. Published on Wednesday, August 12, 2009 by The Toronto Star - by Antonia Zerbisias after three women cut down last Tuesday night in a Pittsburgh-area aerobics class.

23. ACTION • Delegation Blog • Online photo – journal • Increasing awareness : presentations to classes, groups, friends etc • Articles, news pieces, delegation reports • Supporting legislation to legalize community radio stations. • Plan for lobbying in DC – Nov 5 & 6 • Delegation re-union -follow up action Nov 7 & 8 • IWH collaboration with Highland Support Project

24. What you can do • Support re-introduction and passage of the I-VAWA (International Violence Against Women Act) www.amnestyusa.orgor visit womenthrive.org • Host a video night using BBC’s “Killer’s Paradise” to increase awareness • Attend events – Guatemala activists – ie: Gladys Monterossa – VCU on October 20 • Read the GHRC Femicide & delegation report • Other??

25. Guatemala Human Rights Commission • Support the work of the Guatemala Human Rights Commission (GHRD) www.ghrc-usa.org • Sign up for newsletter & alerts • Host a fundraiser • Make a gift to support work the of GHRC • Purchase the 2010 calendar, gifts, fair trade coffee • Write letters on behalf of human rights defenders • Support asylum for women fleeing violence in Guatemala or even better refugee status (Asylum requires being in the US already and if you can't get here, you can't get the help)

26. En solidaridad con las mujeres de Guatemala (in solidarity with the women of Guatemala No More Impunity We Demand Justice !!

27. Village of Espumpuja Mayan Women

28. With thanks to Jill Covert for photo collage

29. Additions 9-16-09 stats US & Virginia • Finish and send to team