Women

The Trauma of a Young Tseltal Woman Imprisoned without Evidence for the Murder of the Man who Raped Her

¨¨Juanita was born in San Juan Cancuc, a small municipality in the mountainous region of the Chiapas Highlands, mostly populated by members of the same ethnic group as hers, the Tseltals. Her story is by no means unique. She follows the patterns of an rugged reality that repeats itself. A systematic dynamic that “criminalizes and makes invisible” indigenous women and results in “concealment by the justice system of the feminicidal sexual assaults of which they are victims,” in the words of Colectiva Cereza, a human rights organization defense that offers “legal and psychosocial accompaniment” to imprisoned women.¨

WOMEN AND AUTONOMY – Hearts of Freedom and Justice

February 22nd saw the launch of the Women and Autonomy campaign by Frayba at Taniperla Restaurant in San Cristóbal de Las Casas. The event was attended by women HR defenders from Frayba, women from the frontline communities in Chiapas, Schools for Chiapas and international solidarity workers. As part of their campaign, Frayba launched a new section on their website, which we translate for you here.

In our ongoing collaboration with Frayba, Schools for Chiapas is currently recruiting civil observer volunteers to work in communities under attack or threat, where women are often the main victims in these circumstances. If you are interested in volunteering through us, you can find out more on our website at https://schoolsforchiapas.org/become-a-human-rights-observer/

Neither Mother nor Wife. Indigenous Women in Amatenango del Valle Highlight the Bright and Dark Sides of Being Single

Indigenous women face discrimination on three levels, for being indigenous, for being women and for being poor. The Zapatista Women’s Revolutionary Laws of 1993 marked a major advance for the women living within the autonomous communities and had some level of influence in the wider community of indigenous women in Chiapas. Despite the predominant patriarchal discourse concerning gender stereotypes, indigenous women continue to empower and exert themselves. This article by Yessica Morales from Chiapas Paralelo looks at recent research into a tendency of indigenous women from Amatenango del Valle who choose not to marry and have children but prefer to be single and independent.

Mexico: Reflections on the Struggles of Zapatista Women. Feminists?

In this paper, Dr. Sylvia Marcos examines some key concepts of the struggles of Zapatista women and the challenges they present to global North geopolitical feminisms. “These struggles by Zapatista women focus simultaneously on their rights as women and on those they share in the defense of their land and territory. They are struggling against the dispossession caused by megaprojects and how these impact multiple communities and “indigenous” peoples, not only against their land, territory, but also against their epistemic particularities.”

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