This document provides background information on the historical context of indigenous women's struggle for emancipation in Guatemala from 1980 to the present. It discusses how indigenous women have faced discrimination, exploitation, and abuse dating back to colonial times. While early movements focused on land rights and preserving indigenous culture, women's movements increasingly incorporated demands for women's rights and gender equality. The document reviews how indigenous women have a long history of activism but faced barriers due to authoritarian governments and gendered social constructions. It analyzes how indigenous women's demands for rights are interconnected with broader indigenous rights and how achieving ethnic equality is important for women's emancipation.
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How have women achieved emancipation? - A study of
indigenous female collective action in Guatemala
(1980 – present)
Matilda Treherne-Thomas
K1221843
PO6020
Ilaria Favretto
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Abstract
This piece of work investigates the process of indigenous women in Guatemala towards
emancipation since the 1980s. However firstly it reviews long term factors which have
challanged the women since the colonial times and that have excluded them socially,
economically, culturally and politically. Then focusing on women’s social movements and
their transformation in aims, ideology, protest tactics and work to what they are currently,
from fighting against state terror to wanting emancipation not only as indigenous people
but as women. Several organisations will be focused on throughout: GAM, CONAVIGUA,
UNAMG. The project will also analyse indigenous women’s mobilisation. Using resource
mobilisation theory, political opportunity model and the cultural opportunity model to
investigate the topic, as well as the indigenous women overcoming lack of material
resources, but massively hindered by lack of national political allies serves to question the
theories’ validity. Rigoberta Menchu is explored as a leading figure of Maya women’s rights
and an example of progress towards emancipation. The connection between her successes
is linked to her close relationship with the international community. Because of Guatemala’s
context of violent and repressive governments the importance of the international
community and international human rights frameworks is analysed. The predominant role
of the United Nations and its agencies (UN Women) in granting indigenous women support
is also investigated. The project will overall demonstrate women can produce changes
through participating in collective action however also with the active support of
international forces.
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Abbreviations
CONAVIGUA - the National Coordinator of Guatemalan Widows (Coordinadora
Nacional de Viudas de Guatemala)
CUC - Committee for Peasant Unity (Comite de Union Campesina)
DEMI – Defence of Indigenous Women (Defensoría de la Mujer Indígena)
GAM – Group of Mutual Support (Grupo de Apoyo Mutuo)
OAS – Organisation of American States
UNAMG – National Union of Guatemalan Women (Unión Nacional de Mujeres
Guatemaltecas)
URNG - National Guatemalan Revolutionary Union (Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional
Guatemalteca)
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1) Introduction / Literature Review]
Women’s global struggle for emancipation is still a vitally relevant issue to international
relations. It is therefore important to explore how women from the most neglected social
and ethnic background have come to emancipate themselves as this can serve as an
example to follow and to inspire others. This project explores how women via collective
action have achieved meaningful changes and emancipation through the single case study of
Guatemala’s indigenous women with the focus from 1980 until modern dates. This single
case study demonstrates how women from one of the most alienated backgrounds have
overcome extreme challenges of discrimination, poverty, inequality, violence, and abuse to
demand their rights as women to be acknowledged and respected. The case study also
investigates the theme of gender and ethnicity being closely linked, with the lack of
indigenous women’s rights as viewed in the context of the broader issue of indigenous
rights. In this light their campaign for human rights or women’s rights occupies a significant
proportion of their demands based on their culture and collective rights as indigenous
people (Macleod, M. Sieder, R. 2009). The project will also touch on the issues of gender,
racism and political identities. The research aims to show how their development through
social movements and organisations over time aligns the movements to encompass female
emancipation because of the creation of gendered political consciousness (Macleod, M.
Sieder, R. 2009).
Firstly, in Section Two I will describe the context of why and how women became active in
the different organisations and social movements, analysing how they have been shaped by
many factors dating back to the colonial times, as well as by issues of abuse, rape, violence
during armed conflict, in addition to economic and social factors. Following this, in Section
Three, mobilisation and resources in protest movements will be explored, using resource
mobilisation theory, political opportunity model and the cultural opportunity model to
examine how indigenous women overcome patterns of resource inequality, political
discrimination and negative framing in efforts to spotlight social change goals (and their
progress towards emancipation Edwards, B. McCarthy, J. 2007 p 140). The project will also
analyse if these theories of protest movements actually are valid and relevant or if the
Guatemalan case challenges them. Section Four will follow up by analysing the indigenous
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collective action and its protest tactics in Guatemala such using marches, speeches, truth
seeking, legal prosecution, testimonies, cultural resistance, and education as
empowerment, as well as the use of the guerrilla to seek change.
After, the political figure of Rigoberta Menchu and her relationship with the international
community will be analysed, reviewing the impact she had on women’s social movements in
Guatemala and women’s emancipation as well as her success as social actor. Finally, the
impact of the international community, a concept interpreted as the role of the
international organisations and not individual states, will also be analysed with the United
Nations´ role being highlighted in facilitating female participation and engagement, and - in
turn - emancipation
It was harder than originally imagined to find sources exactly on the issue of Guatemalan
indigenous women and their emancipation process throughout history, and my research
involved using many different sources and piecing together information and theories. To
understand the whys and wherefores for my specific question, the analysis of context was
extremely important and hence the need for a variety of historical and contextual sources.
Protest theories by Johnson and Noakes (2005), Edwards (2001), Della Porta (2006),
Aminzada and McAdam (2001) were used to analyse women’s role and success in
mobilisation, framing, and overcoming barriers. A predominant focus was on human agency,
overcoming resource theory and political opportunity constraints, and challenging some of
the arguments that material wealth, urban location, technology are not vital for
mobilisation but acknowledging they can help. The argument from Eckstein’s Power and
Popular Protest, Latin American Social Movements (2001) of women’s fight for human rights
changing in the 1990s to gender-specific issues, is a main sources that explains and supports
the project’s argument of women’s ideological transition through participation in social
movements, and of how they came to seek emancipation as women through collective
action.
Originally the project intended to use a balanced mix of qualitative and quantitative sources
but encountered certain limitations. Perhaps due to the complicated context of the area
throughout the 1980s – 1990s there lacked a substantial amount of quantitative data on the
issue of indigenous women mobilizing in social movements or in politics for dates prior to
the Peace Accords. The Guatemala National statistics website had little and poor
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information to offer on indigenous females prior to the 1990s and even data after this date
were not highly relevant to the research question. Thus the use of qualitative data, primary
sources such as photographs, interviews, speeches, documentaries and personal accounts
served to address issues of framing, mobilisation, number of members and political
participation. However, for more current evidence mostly since 2000, the use of the
Internet facilitated finding quantitative data on numbers of women participating politically,
and statistics on poverty and literacy levels in order to measure overall development.
Websites such as the United Nations, UN Women, the World Bank, Amnesty International
and the indigenous women’s organisations’ official pages presented reports and
information, both quantitative and qualitative, such as statistics and evidence of women’s
and the international communities’ roles, current projects and ideology.
For the general topic of indigenous rights there was a wide range of sources available, such
as author Brysk’s The Tribal Village to Global Village, Indian Rights and International
Relations in Latin America (2009), which focused on Indigenous groups´ impact
internationally, similar to Fischer and McKenna Brown’s (1996) book on Maya activism
which serves to help understand the women’s social movement´s connection to more
extensive indigenous movements. However, it only touched on the specific subject of
indigenous women’s organisations similar to Warren’s Indigenous Movements and Their
Critics, Pan-Maya Activism in Guatemala (1998) which discusses the challenges the Pan-
Maya movement faces. Overall history books mostly focused on the broader issues
concerning indigenous struggles before and throughout the genocide, and rarely focusing on
indigenous women’s emancipation and roles as activists, protestors and political figures.
However, Radcliffe and Westwood’s Viva’ Women and Popular Protest in Latin America
(1993) was useful for the theme of gender and race. To repeat, many books only mentioned
in passing the issue of indigenous women’s participation in social movements, and focused
rather on the broader topic spectrum of Latin America as a whole. Such books were
Stephen’s Women and Social Movements in Latin America, (1997), Miller’s Latin American
Women and the Search for Social Justice (1991), and Craske’s Women Politics in Latin
America (1999). Although these books offered historical context value they also displayed a
considerable lack of real substance on the specific topic of Guatemalan indigenous women’s
participation in mobilisation. The process of the indigenous Guatemalan women is very
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different from western women’s and from other Latin American emancipation struggles and
the project couldn’t speak generally of the oppression of Latin American women as it hides
the harsh reality suffered by millions of indigenous women (Radcliffe, S. Westwood, S. 1993
pp. 5).
Personal accounts such as Rigoberta Menchu’s biography (1984) and the interviews and
accounts found in ‘Viva’ (1993) were advantageous to having first-hand accounts of the
women’s struggles, testimonies and mentality. Criticism and praise by other academics
about Rigoberta, such as biased and inconsistent criticism by David Stoll reviewed by
Sanford (2003) was also helpful in supporting the argument of women succeeded in
speaking out against the state and being attacked for doing so. Visual sources have been
used mostly in ‘type of collective action’ (section 4) to show examples of what is analysed.
Imagery works as supporting primary sources of the text. Photography book by Simon, J.
(1987) Guatemala, Eternal Spring, Eternal Tyranny was used to represent the early struggles
with various photos dedicated to indigenous women. Other images from official websites
such as from www.unamg.org were also used and from history books. These sources are
valuable asthey visually show indigenous women’s resources, protest techniques such as flags,
clothing, framing which support the dissertation’s argument. The documentary When The
Mountains Tremble (1983) also was an important source as it displayed early stages of the
indigenous struggles first hand and has interviews with indigenous women participants such
as Rigoberta Menchu.
1) Background information
This section presents an overview of the historical context focused on how the indigenous
women's' struggle, campaigning for land rights, culture and heritage, against violence and
repression changed to campaigning for women's' rights. It will also explore how indigenous
women have constantly faced challenges, being the most vulnerable to rape, abuse,
exploitation, overall gender discrimination, lack of rights and inequality.
Historical factors dating back to the colonialisation of Guatemala by the Spaniards have
created deep rooted racial segregation and discrimination against Indians which has greatly
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affected indigenous women. The theme of induced Indian transformation is seen
throughout the Americas and is not unique to Guatemala. However, for Guatemala there is
said to be little if anything that seems to ever improve in terms of their actual social or
material conditions (Drouin, M. 2009 pp. 81). Non-Indian decision makers in Guatemala in
the 19th and early 20th century believed Indians should be worked hard, not only to civilise
them, but to ensure the property of planters and elites. There were controversies between
improving Indians through education and theories that only forced labour would better
them, as well as ideas of improving Indians racially through cross-breeding and artificial
insemination. Ethnic cleansing was considered as well as extreme genocidal ideas of
exterminating the Indians altogether (83). The process of turning Indians into Non-Indians,
through adopting European culture, speaking Spanish, wearing Western clothes, owning
private property and in the 20th century doing obligatory military service for men was
considered the best way to transform them, with the hope that the process of ‘ladinisation’
in the villages would continue changing their community’s social and cultural configuration
(pp 82). In addition, indigenous women traditionally were seen as responsible for
preserving, developing and transmitting indigenous knowledge and culture (www.un.org),
and because of the historical threat of destroying indigenous culture and lifestyle,
indigenous women have participated in social movements to defend their culture, lands,
traditions and beliefs (Sanford, V. 2003 pp.134). As Rigoberta Menchu explains ‘I am an
IndianIST, not just an Indian. I’m an IndianIST to my fingertips and I defend everything to do
with my ancestors’ (Radcliffe, S. Westwood, S. 1993 pp. 8). Recent indigenous women’s
movements continue to challenge the long existing colonial patterns which had created
their subordination. They not only act for the objective of preserving their culture, heritage
and of demonstrating the historical injustices committed against them, but they also
connect this with their demands as women, challenging perceived ideas of gender and race
(Radcliffe, S. Westwood, S. 1993 pp. 3).
Indigenous women have participated in prior mobilisation for collective rights, such as
peasant and Indian-driven movements, and have paved the way for indigenous women’s
mobilization. Social movements concerning land rights were a significant focus for
indigenous women and men. Studies from Guatemala indicate that by the late 1970s some
Indian communities had 20 years of organising experience, successfully experimenting with
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peasant leagues and unions, literacy campaigns and municipal politics (Drouin, M. 2009 pp.
85). Many participated in protests and activities with the CUC, Guatemala’s first Indian-led
national labour organisation, uniting highland Indians with poor ladino farmworkers, as well
as with the agricultural cooperative movement in Guatemala, which was one of the fastest
growing of its kind in Central America. Local organisation of cooperatives and peasant
unions were also common and became collective means for many Indian communities to
strengthen their economies, improving living conditions and making reformist demands
heard (pp 86). By 1976 there was an estimated 500 rural cooperatives organized into 8
federations with overall membership of 132,000 with 60% located in the highlands.
Moreover, Indian movements had a major impact on stimulating Indian women’s political
attitudes, mobilisation and protest tactics (pp 85). Evidence shows indigenous women have
a long history of activism and militancy in popular movements which over time have
incorporated the perspective of being a woman into their collective work of strengthening
authority and indigenous rights (Macleod, M. Sieder, R. 2009).
Overall in Latin America and as seen specifically in Guatemala the issue of gender is
experienced through social constructions of ‘race’, meaning women are classified by their
race and not solely by their gender (Radcliffe, S. Westwood, S. 1993 pp. 6). This is seen with
the Guatemalan indigenous women’s exclusion from politics. In addition, authoritarian
repressive governments that have discouraged popular participation alongside gender
constructions that shape politics as a Ladino man’s world (Craske, N. 1999 pp. 9). However
women have been at the core of newly mobilized sectors, but women’s demands have
traditionally been neglected by a male-dominated party system. This has influenced
indigenous women to challenge ideas on gender and race and demand political
opportunities and equality through collective action. Finally, it is said that ‘Women’s
emancipation is bound up with the fate of the larger community’, and this can be
exemplified in the case of Guatemala, where the indigenous population as a whole lacks
rights and meaning. Not until ethnic equality could be achieved could women’s
emancipation follow (Craske, N. 1999 pp.2).
Gender discrimination in the workplace and economic inequality was a major factor that
also motivated indigenous women to stand up for their rights (Radcliffe, S. Westwood, S.
1993 pp. 51). Indigenous women throughout time have been at the margin of the
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Guatemalan economy, working mostly in agriculture, being exploited by Finca owners who
take advantage of Indians´ not knowing Spanish in order to defend themselves and their
desperate situation of extreme poverty (Radcliffe, S. Westwood, S. 1993 pp. 21). Women
also felt the need to address issues of domestic provision and welfare as the government
systematically failed to provide these, withdrawing their support from the state when the
livelihood of their family and children were threatened, this is seen with the support of
guerrilla and revolutionary forces by a number of the indigenous population (Molyneux, M.
1985 pp. 233). Furthermore, Indigenous women realised that economic and social
development required changes in the structure of class relations and the configuration of
political power - hence their participation in social movements (Petras, J. Veltmeyer, H. 2005
pp. 220).
The violence and repression carried out by the government was an overriding factor that
influenced indigenous women’s organisations. The late 1970s / early 1980s was the peak of
the genocide, where the government used the army to carry out extreme violence and
brutality against the indigenous population. The state saw the enemy as not only
revolutionary movements but any populist, religious, or indigenous movements with
progressive ideas aimed at bringing about social change (Feierstein, D. 2010 pp. 492). In
1981 military government of General Romeo Lucas Garcia initiated a military campaign in
rural areas against indigenous communities suspected of supporting the guerrillas called
Ceniza 81 (Drouin, M. 2009 pp. 87). To illustrate, a 1981 CIA reports indiscriminate killing of
civilians in rural areas with Guatemalan army soldiers ‘forced to shoot anything that moved’
(Drouin, M. 2009 pp. 85). State violence escalated from such crimes against humanity as
extermination and persecution to full-blown genocide, with torture, mutilation, and entire
villages set ablaze. Sexual violence against indigenous women was used as a weapon of war,
in a massive and systematic way by the Army and other governmental institutions
(www.unamg.com). Furthermore, violence against female sexuality, also restricted their
rights regarding their fertility, health and freedom of movement of the body. This brutality
by the state motivated indigenous women to collectively act,
Many women in Guatemala went from participating in peaceful protests to joining the
guerrilla warfare as protestors’ transformed resentment into a struggle, as a way to
overcome political constraints. However Guatemalan women tended not to participate in
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guerrilla in early years as Alba Estela Maldonado (Comandante ‘Lola’), most senior female
commander, states when she joined in 1974 only two other women where in her group.
Only in the 1978-80 period women started to join in greater numbers when the repression
worsened. Overall women’s participation had little to do with gender interests. They
originally joined to improve general conditions in Guatemala or because family members
had been killed or had joined the guerrilla, as well as the constant ethnic discrimination and
the economic situation and against the severe repression (Luciak, I. 2001 pp. 196).
Esperanza, a Kanjobal women who joined the guerrilla army at 15 explains why she joined:
due to the severe brutality she witnessed from the army towards her community and the
fear she had of being innocently captured, tortured and killed. She states: ‘What am I doing
here sitting here without a weapon? I would rather go once and for all with the guerrilla. If I
am going to die, I want t to be for something good. I want a weapon and if I die, I will die
killing a soldier’ (Sanford, V. 2003 pp.144). Finally, the number of women participating in the
guerrilla is hard to pinpoint exactly, however the image below shows how women
represented an estimate of nearly 15 percent of interviewed combatants in demobilisation
period in 1996, which gives an idea of how many women fought in the conflict (Luciak, I.
2001 pp. 194).
(Luciak, I. 2001 pp. 194)
Overall more than 200,000 Guatemalans were killed or disappeared over the course of the
conflict, hundreds of villages destroyed and one and a half million people were internally
displaced or sought refuge in Mexico (Luciak, I. 2001 pp. 189). As the 1980s was a period of
crisis it brought more women together, some turned to the guerrilla forces, however
numbers of female indigenous soldiers was about half of what it had been in other Central
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American conflicts and majority of women choose participating in peaceful protest
movements and collective action (Luciak, I. 2001 pp. 196). Organisations, such as
CONAVIGUA, GAM, and UNAMG were created to denounce the state and injustices
committed during the conflict,
Another major contribution to the process of indigenous women’s emancipation in
Guatemala was the democratization struggles throughout Latin America in the 1970s and
1980s. New opportunities were presented for women through their involvement in social
movements and the change of political participation to include previously hidden ‘women
issues’. The development of feminist debates also encouraged a more inclusive notion of
citizenship in the new democracies and stimulated women to claim more rights (Craske, N.
1999 pp.4). Therefore, the shift in Guatemala after the Peace Accords in 1996 eliminated
many human rights abuses that had brought the social movements into the public arena;
they also transformed societal expectations and practices which allowed women to engage
on their own in social movements focused on gender specific issues (Eckstein, S. 2001
pp.382)
Reviewing the different causes and the historical background explains the road to
indigenous women’s mobilisation, explaining how women’s initial interests were the
response to immediate perceived needs, mostly surrounding security against violence,
rather than strategic goals such as women’s emancipation or gender equality. At the
beginning of the 1980s indigenous women were not claiming they were feminists or directly
associating themselves with female emancipation (Molyneux, M. 1985 pp.231). However, as
the different social movements developed over time, they began to express more feminist
linked ideas and seek not only emancipation as indigenous people but also as women. They
connected their demands to including the respect for human rights as well as specifically
respect for women’s rights and dignity, making politics at once political and personal,
strategic and pragmatic, with the idea that ‘feminism’ had been there all along (Radcliffe, S.
Westwood, S. 1993 pp. 58-61). To conclude, it was valuable to analyse indigenous women’s
influence from previous social involvements, and the grievances they faced that shaped
collective action’s goals for empowerment, as it also influenced and explains their grounds
for mobilisation.
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2) Mobilisation andResources
Resources mobilisation’ theory serves to understand mobilisation success or failure. It refers
not only to material resources such as financial funds, but also moral resources and human
effort. Impoverished indigenous women were so readily mobilized because of economic
necessity, so whereas the theory shows lack of material resources as a constraint the
Guatemalan case shows lack of resources can actually works as an incentive for mobilisation
(Molyneux, M. 1985 pp. 233). For example, only 25 women who participated in the URNG
had land ownership and a staggering number of 635 (of 766 interviewed during
demobilization period) had sole responsibility for the support and survival of their families.
This also shows the connection between women’s lack of resources and turning to more
extreme choices such as joining the guerrilla forces. Moreover, the heavy burden of
responsibility in the cases of single mothers can be seen as a massive factor for other types
of mobilisation such as non-violent protests and social movements.
Furthermore, it is true that having material resources can facilitate mobilisation as
indigenous women’s mobilisation did face material and economic resource limitations which
affected their tactics. Indigenous women were thus mostly locally organised in their
communities, through church groups, unions and in households (Radcliffe, S. Westwood, S.
1993 pp. 22). This is shown with Rigoberta Menchu when filmed saying the peasant and
indigenous movements was ‘well organised in small cooperatives and Christian
communities, we preached the message of the bible’. (When The Mountains Tremble, 1983).
In addition, most Indian communities’ leaders were from the gospel church and helped to
build schools in the area, organise neighbourhoods, coordinate and strategise. These local
religious resources, with the support of priests and churches helped mobilisation as they
provided a space for individuals to come together. For example CONAVIGUA widows used
churches to meet and interact (Radcliffe, S. Westwood, S. 1993 pp. 50). This explains how
indigenous women overcame certain material resource challenges by the use of local based
community mobilisation and using religious resources.
There was also a crucial role of human effort and agency in transcending the durable social
and economic barriers to mobilising the indigenous women’s underprivileged
constituencies. Human resources came from the indigenous women impacted from the
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genocide, with 60,000 widows as well as many other sharing a common history of
repression, poverty and inequality (Radcliffe, S. Westwood, S. 1993 pp. 50). For instance,
organisations became open not only to indigenous women but to anyone supporting the
cause which helps to have greater numbers for mobilisation. CONVIGUA explains how they
tried to mobilse more people by breaking down the differentiation between women from
different ethnic groups or between indigenous communities. A council member states: ‘our
organisation is open to all women because our situation as women is that our participation
in society has yet to be recognised, we do not all start out equally…Our struggle is to see
women are respected and given our rights’ (Radcliffe, S. Westwood, S. 1993 pp. 50). In
addition, moral resources were also a big factor that played within women’s mobilisation in
Guatemala. Indigenous women that participated in collective action felt a strong sense of
injustice which made them commit more to the cause and take more risks. We can thus
challenge the resources mobilisation even further by stating even though material and
financial resources have importance, human agency and effort alongside moral respaces can
also determine outcomes in mobilisation.
The political opportunity serves to explore the importance of political factors which
hindered Guatemalan indigenous women’s mobilisation. Before the Conflict ended in 1996,
the association of any collective action with communist parties and guerrilla forces created
violence and attacks on members and leader of social movements. For example in March
1990 CONAVIGUA member Marta Mejia was shot in her house in El Quiche by two military
commissioners (pp 57). UNAMG was also targeted and exiled to Mexico after the
persecution and disappearance of founder Silvia Gálvez in 1985. Until after the Peace
Accords UNAMG was able to return to Guatemala. This demonstrates how availability of
political allies, policing, political opportunities and constraints affected the protest
movements’ mobilisation immensely with only national political support coming from the
left party. Even more, government repression on the general indigenous population, attacks
from the army and police, union workers being assassinated and members of social
movements disappearing, led to demobilisation of indigenous women’s movement
vanishing for a period of time, where members had to go underground in order to survive or
didn’t participate out of fear (When The Mountains Tremble, 1983). Overall, mobilisation
suffered in the 1980s and 1990s due to the extremely harsh policing, lack of political
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representation and support from respected national politicians who could give legitimacy
and status to the movement, which was vital for mobilisation. Chapter 6 will follow up this
argument and express the importance of the international community as political allies such
as the United Nations in giving the protest movements and women’s emancipation support
and credibility however mostly during and after the Peace Accords.
The cultural opportunity model researches and explains protest movements’ success in
mobilisation by its framing strategy and collective identity. Many indigenous women used
the strategy of framing as ‘mothers looking for justice’ to rupture from the image of the
‘female victim’ or the ‘passive witness’ of war or even as ‘communist criminals’.
CONAVIGUA especially was a ‘Motherist’ movement’ that made their identities as mothers
political. The political motherhood is shown with how the concepts of family and justice are
joined into one moral domain and identity/framing (Radcliffe, S. Westwood, S. 1993 pp.
61). CONVIGUA was a clear example of this on May 14 1988 in El Quiche. They refused to
recognise national ‘Mother’s Day’, and created their own day for remembrance for their
disappeared children, using their ‘motherist’ position to appeal against the government.
Displayed below is a flyer they distributed to stop forced military recruitment of their sons.
The poster says ‘Stop Now! No to the forced recruitment of our young ones’. They use a
framing approach of focusing on portraying themselves as mothers, regardless of their
ethnicity, as a way to stand up against the government. To a certain extent it was a
successful technique to attract sympathy. Moreover, framing agency and injustice was
crucial for gaining attention, support, and recruits.
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(CONVIGUA Radcliffe, S. Westwood, S. 1993 pp. 53)
Furthermore, social movements created the political recognition of a particular ‘class-based’
identity of the indigenous impoverished rural widows. (Warren, K. 1998 pp. 48). This is seen
through the idea of replacing shame for pride. Many peasant and indigenous women who
were subject to rape and torture by national soldiers became members of GAM, responding
to the humiliating experience of torture and rape with dignity and anger. Indigenous women
contested their status as sexualized objects by security forces by denouncing them and
demanding justice (Radcliffe, S. Westwood, S. 1993 pp. 58). UNAMG also focused on
creating indigenous women’s testimonies from women who were sexually abused during
the armed conflict to seek justice against culprits. The shift from what women initially saw
as individual acts of political rape became perceived as part of a culture of gender abuse. To
conclude, individual identity transformed when women collectively act together for a
common cause, empowering themselves through mobilisation, becoming political actors.
Finally, the mobilisation of emotions was a crucial component in reconstructing emotional
beliefs and feeling rules into moral obligation and protest mobilisation (Aminzade, R.
McAdam, D. 2001 pp.14). The loss of family members and community members created
communal suffering, who ‘Maria’, CONVIGUA member, says ‘brought us all together’
(Radcliffe, S. Westwood, S. 1993 pp. 51). In addition, testimonies and woman talking to each
18. 18
other in supportive spaces such as churches helped to mobilise women. As survivors
remembered their experiences and memories of fear, sadness, anger, hope and resolve with
their experiences of being lied to, shot at, bombed, threatened, beaten, raped, and starved,
it caused agency (Sanford, V. 2003 pp.144). Also, as indigenous women questioned the
acceptance of violence against women they made a theoretical leap connecting their
experience and analysis of political violence, disappearance, torture, to personal violence
against women, rape and battering (Radcliffe, S. Westwood, S. 1993 pp. 31). Thus, even
though mobilisation was developed from their original goals, of uniting widowed women
from the genocide and protesting against state and military violence, which did initially
serve to join individuals into collective action, but which later on those same original
emotions of frustration and despair would be directed towards gender goals.
3) Types of Collective Action
Indigenous women mobilised through protests, demonstrations and large marches. As
indigenous women mainly lived in secluded, rural areas it was common for them to travel
into cities to protest or have marches where it would be a walk into main cities to attract
more attention to the cause (When The Mountains Tremble, 1983). For example, the
photograph below shows a GAM march, where dozens of highland Indians had travelled to
Guatemala City to participate with approximately 1,000 people attending the march with
two-thirds being Indian women. We can see some women are walking barefoot with
children on their backs. By taking their children it also works as a method of controlling
policing as armed forces are less likely to use violence if children are involved (Simon, J.M.
1987 pp. 198). Placards with photographs of disappeared people also remind the viewers of
past violence, with the purpose to stir emotions, grow collective action, and gain state
attention. In addition, the banner in the foreground of the photograph states: ‘for the
respect to human dignity, to life and to freedom. Group of Mutual Support’. Which is an
unthreatening but powerful message.
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(Simon, J.M. 1987 pp. 198)
Various movements campaigned directly against the state. For example, GAM demanded
respect of human rights, prosecution of culprits of violence and retrieve remains of relatives
from clandestine cemeteries. They fuelled protests against the highest recorded numbers of
disappeared, totalling around 38,000, perpetrated by Garcia death squads to suppress rural
organising and trade union developments. To demonstrate the photograph below displays
members of GAM at a press conference in Guatemala City for disappeared family members.
Also, by prosecuting the state, collective action transformed gender relations and
expectations by refusing to accept the boundaries of the state as to what indigenous
women were allowed to do. They exposed the ethnical vacuum of the state while gaining
political and feminist consciousness (Eckstein, S. 2001 pp.382). In other words, this shows
how indigenous women tried to reclaim a place in the nation by organising resistance and
denying the legitimacy of state action (Radcliffe, S. Westwood, S. 1993 pp. 17).
20. 20
(Simon, J.M. 1987 pp. 78).
In addition, refugees from the armed conflict also created a spread of Guatemalan Maya
women’s social movements such as ‘Mama Maquin’in 1990 by refugee Guatemalan women
in Mexico. They were frustrated by barriers to women’s participation in decision taking
regarding their return to Guatemala. It became the only Guatemalan refugee organisation
which untied women across ethnic, language and camp barriers in Southern Mexico. It has
provided a social and political space for women to share their stories, problems, and analyse
with one another, contributing to the process of developing collective identity and
oppositional discourse (Sanford, V. 2003 pp.134).
Protests against women’s violence was also carried through testimonies and legal attempts
of prosecution. UNAMG was an example of this, on 4th and 5th of March 2011 they had a
‘Tribunal of Conscience’ where indigenous women testified in front of national courts to
give evidence against culprits of sexual crimes and violence and demand reparations
(www.unamg.org), Rosalina Tuyuc from CONAVIGUA was also present at the tribunal and
stated it was for ‘’ the dignity of those who were raped and those who will testify are a light,
a sign, of what happened” (www.stoprapeinconflict.org). There was representatives from
different sectors of the state, diplomats from the UN and EU, specialists in legal prosecution
and national and international women’s organisations. This is a successful example of how
survivors of sexual violence can protest through seeking justice by speaking out against
what happened to them (www.unamg.com). In addition, public speeches were also used as
21. 21
a means of protest and replacing shame of the past for pride. To illustrate this, Maria’s, a
Quiche women, speech to widow women in 1997: ‘I am not afraid. I am not ashamed. I am
not embarrassed…They (army) thought they would always be able to treat us like animals,
that we would never know how to defend ourselves. But, we also have rights. We have
rights from the same laws they have rights. We have the same rights…Today I am giving
testimony in public, we have to tell everything that happened to us in the past so that we
won’t have far in the future’ (Sanford, V. 2003 pp.146). The quote shows the connections
indigenous women were making between human rights and women’s rights as she comes
from a gendered approach. Furthermore, as women question who claims the truth they also
started to question power relations that stretch beyond their original aims, by rethinking
and challenging ideas of motherhood, femininity, security and justice (Radcliffe, S.
Westwood, S. 1993, pp.63).
Indigenous woman have also used education as a means of protest and a means of
empowering themselves. Inequality in education levels is shown with data taken from the
National Institute of Statistics surveys in 1989, where illiteracy rates of ‘Ladina’ women was
30 per cent and for Indian women it was 60 per cent (Warren, K. 1998 pp. 229).
Furthermore, only in CONAVIGUA of approximately 9,000 members only 25-30 knew how to
read and write (Radcliffe, S. Westwood, S. 1993 pp. 52). The organisations recognised the
need to know how to read and write in Spanish to use as a defiance against their
vulnerability. Through literacy classes women learned not only Spanish but also the
language of bureaucracy, law and thus have the power to make demands as well as protect
themselves. Language was furthermore recognized as a powerful political tool (Fischer, F.
McKenna Brown, R. 1996 pp.5). We can see the development of indigenous women’s
collective action towards empowerment with the knowledge on their rights and laws and
demanding universal rights. Consecutively, this indirectly and directly formed part of the
process towards indigenous female emancipation, (Radcliffe, S. Westwood, S. 1993 pp. 55).
To illustrate, UNAMG uses education of feminism and leftist political ideology, aiming to
strengthen women’s critical thinking, organisation, and political action, making indigenous
women act as social beings that can transform their reality. Below the photo displays
UNAMG members celebrating international woman’ day, the banner says: ‘Women cultivate
22. 22
your values and give light to our America to birth heirs without chains and germinate
freedom’.
(www.unamg.org, accessed on 01/03/2015 4:00 pm)
Cultural resistance was also employed. Indigenous women’s collective action challenged the
state and history of their oppression through the preservation and pride of their culture.
This is seen through CONAVIGUA, their July 1991 report states: ‘We participate in the
struggle of the last 500 years of Indigenous and Popular Resistance, as much on the National
level as the International, in defence of our culture’ (Radcliffe, S. Westwood, S. 1993 pp. 51).
This is also seen with the use of the traditional attire is a powerful image and statement. It is
also valuable to consider how indigenous women use Maya clothing while a very small
amount of men do, as men believe they shouldn’t wear as they feel pressure from the
social, economic, and cultural Ladino society (Fischer, F. McKenna Brown, R. 1996 pp. 146).
However this suggests that Maya women feel the strongest sense of cultural responsibility
to transmit their values to future generations. Moreover, Maya dress shows solidarity,
challenges discrimination, acts as a symbol of cultural survival and thus it acts as a visible
language of protest (Fischer, F. McKenna Brown, R. 1996 pp. 154). Furthermore, Rigoberta
menchu is popularly seen publically in Maya dresses using it as a way of political propaganda
and a symbol of her ethnic history (Brysk A. 2009 pp. 3). Also, ADESCO, set up in 1996 and
composed mainly of indigenous k’iche women, uses their culture to promote gender
equality, work equality, the creation of a new femininity and masculinity, that’s includes
respect, justice, freedom and liberty of both women and men. This is done through
community gatherings, with women discussing their values and Maya concepts, in a process
23. 23
of rediscovering their power to recognize themselves as leaders of their own lives, of their
future and history (Macleod, M. Sieder, R. 2009). The photograph below is beneficial to
visually appreciate the bold colors and patterns of their Maya dress.
(Simon, J.M. 1987 pp. 26, Chichicastenango, Quiche)
Other indigenous Guatemalan women chose to act through the guerrilla up into 1996 which
induced the process of emancipation. The URNG contributed to encouraging female
emancipation, to illustrate, their goals state: ‘’Guatemalan woman has to be guaranteed,
under conditions of equality, her full participation in political, civil, economic, social and
cultural life, and the eradication of every type of gender and sex discrimination that is an
obstacle for her full potential in support of the development and progress of the country’’,
1995 (Luciak, I. 2001 pp. 189). Also, when women actively participated in armed conflict it
advanced gender recognition as it broke down gender relations. Traditional gender relations
where challenged in military command structure, as most female combatants were active in
communications, logistics, guard activities. Traditional domestic activities such as making
meals, cleaning, were more equally distributed between the sexes (pp. 197). In addition, the
URNG believed if women are not participating equally in the different sectors of the state
then a country cannot be truly democratic, and its development will be hindered. They felt
the ideological constructions of democracy require revisions in relations to discourse around
racism and sexism if they are to change to be exclusive and emancipatory rather than
conservative (Radcliffe, S. Westwood, S. 1993 pp. 24). However, the URNG were only
24. 24
successful to a certain extent with advancing women’s rights and the process to women’s
emancipation after the conflict through the party slowed down.
During the peace accords in 1996, Luz Mendez (feminist member of URNG) was conscious
of the importance of incorporating women’s rights into the agreements and addressed
them in four of the seven substantive agreements between July 1991 and September 1996
(Luciak, I. 2001 pp. 1999). The Government committed itself to ‘eliminate all forms of
discrimination, factual or legal, against women., and to make it easier to on and have access
to land, housing and credit to participate in development projects, promising a gender
perspective to be incorporated into the policies, programs and activities of the global
development strategy. (Luciak, I. 2001 pp. 200). Moreover, the accords did contribute to the
rethinking of women’s roles in Guatemalan society and on a formal level women were
becoming acknowledged as protagonists in Guatemala’s future development (pp 201). But
even though the emphasis on gender issues indicated the level of gender awareness in the
region was changing and Indigenous women right were addressed, they were strong in
rhetoric and weak in implementation and many issues for indigenous women prevailed.
As bases of collective action broadened so did mobilisation strategies. New mechanisms of
communication such as the internet, and media became popular once state censorship
softened under democratization in the 1990s. The use of media served to inspire one
another for protests and movements (Eckstein, S. 2001 pp.401). This is illustrated by
UNAMG who have used the radio, with their own radical feminist show ‘Hablan las mujeres’
- Women Talk - that went on air in July 2005 and expressing ideas from feminism and leftist
ideology (unamg.es.tl). The internet has also been massively important and central to
communicate and act as publicity. Most of not all indigenous women’s organisations
nowadays have official websites with updates of their work, using it as a tool for political
struggle.
4) Rigoberta Menchu
Rigoberta Menchu portrays the process that many other indigenous women wnt through.
She originated from an underprivileged background, and over time through participation in
25. 25
social movements, and then in political action, to become a respected international human
rights advocate and even ran for presidency in Guatemala. In other words, she is a prime
example of displaying the process towards indigenous female emancipation and indigenous
women’s empowerment over time.
Similar to other indigenous women, Rigoberta was propelled into activism by personal
tragedy with the persecution and disappearance of family members by the government
forces (Brysk A. 2009 pp. 3-4). Her father was a member of the CUC and in January 1980 he
was alongside Indians and students when they occupied the Spanish Embassy to denounce
government repression in the highlands, however not one of demonstrators was left alive
(pp 86). Rigoberta since young participated in social movements, such as with the CUC, with
the Pacific Coast plantations strike in February 1980. Participating together with 70,000
sugarcane cutters and followed by 40,000 cotton pickers, as they went on strike and lined
up on the Pan-American Highway with machetes and forced minimum wage for farm
labours up from US $1.12 to $3.20 a day (pp 86). For that reason, we can see the influence
of her activist parents, making her politically active and aware of social, economic and
ethnic inequality. Furthermore, this is similar to the other indigenous women participating
in collective action where they gained knowledge on mobilisation and organisation from
previous participation in movements.
However Rigoberta was different from other indigenous woman when she decided to
publically tell her story to the international audience. She wrote her biography I, Rigoberta
Menchu with help of anthropologist Elizabeth Burgos in 1980 in Paris. It was the most
controversial of the Guatemalan testimonial literatures, with a political intention of
denouncing the government and appealing to the international community to see the
struggles of the Maya people to defend their land, communities, culture and lives (Sanford,
V. 2003 pp.131). It has been used widely by solidarity organization in United States and
Europe to embody and represent revolutionary possibility and hope for Guatemala (Warren,
K. 1998 pp. pp 116). She describes her book in 1983: ‘my realty englobes all the reality of a
people’, ‘people’ referring to all indigenous who share the same hardships. It’s a
representation of oppressed women, peasants, indigenous, workers, not only as resistance
to oppression but as a cultural statement as well (Yudice, G. 1992 pp. 217). However her
autobiography faced many critics on her work and negative resonses as well. For instance,
26. 26
Stoll, an American reporter and supporter of General Lucas Garcia’s government, claimed
the book was a ‘political fabrication’, and a ‘tissue of lies’ and a ‘Marxist myth’ (Sanford, V.
2003 pp.136). In addition, he was criticised for lack of credible sources in his work, but this
does show attempts to silence and marginalise critical voices like Rigoberta’s (Golden, T.
1999). Furthermore, even if there are certain historical inaccuracies and over
representations the book succeeded to assert Rigoberta’s political consciousness as an
indigenous woman and politicizing of Maya women (Sanford, V. 2003 pp. 130). Finally,
Rigoberta was not directly acting on behalf of indigenous women’s rights, but the book
demanded recognition of Maya women as more than pawns in political processes designed
and led by others (pp.131). Moreover, the book reinserted the Maya women into the
historical narrative of Guatemala as conscious subjects not malleable, manipulated
instruments.
Rigoberta attracted international and national attention by receiving the Nobel Peace prize
in 1992 for her commitment and determination on the international fight for Maya rights.
Winning such an award is a huge recognition in itself, giving legitimacy to the cause. In
addition, it broadened the attention on political action in Guatemala. Also, with the
international community having its gaze on the Guatemalan Government, it made them
change their harsh repression and policing. Rigoberta’s also generated attention by
participating in the civilian defeat of an attempted coup in 1993, and in the peace process
(Brysk A. 2009 pp. 275). Furthermore, the supportive presence and close relationship with
Danielle Mitterrand, the wife of the French President, also caused a sensation, with the
spotlight on Rigoberta in Europe and America. Rioberta became somewhat of a celebrity
and obliged the world to recognise Maya women as agents of their own history, as well as
deal with the issue of state violence, repression, and indigenous struggles (Sanford, V. 2003
pp.131).
Rigoberta has participated in transnational social movements, continental pan-Indian
meetings and mobilisations which have attracted attention to the topic of indigenous rights
and simultaneously incorporating ideas of indigenous women’s emancipation. She is seen by
some as the face of the collision between pre-modern and post-modern history and the
unfinished business of the European encounter with the native people, as she represents
the indigenous question against existing oppressing powers. This is seen when she was
27. 27
appointed as a UN goodwill ambassador for indigenous people and in 1994 founded
‘Indigenous Initiative for Peace’ transnational organisation. (Brysk A. 2009 pp. 3-4)
Rigoberta has had a massive impact on the popular indigenous movement, appealing to
rescue sovereignty, maintain their connection with the earth and nature, and preserve the
spirituality of their culture’s communities (pp 34). Even though a lot of the content she
speaks out for is to do with culture and Maya society in general, the fact she does it as an
indigenous women and is respected by the international community makes her an example
to follow of a strong and empowered indigenous women, inspiring others. Further,
Rigoberta’s contributions challaged and transformed perceptions of Maya women of being
silent, traditional, static, lacking politics and without agency (Sanford, V. 2003 pp.131).
Rigoerta Menchu was the first ever female candidate to run for presidency in Guatemala in
2007. Doing so and also doing it as the first ever indigenous women to run was a massive
step in Guatemala. Moreover, the idea of a women to be seen in the presidential campaigns
and debating with white older males was controversial enough, and in addition to that she
represented the indigenous population and doing so as a woman was revolutionary.
Certainly, when Rigoberta appeared wearing the traditional colourful attire and
representing the indigenous people it shocked many conservative ladinos. When Rigoberta
ran for presidency again in 2011 after losing her first attempt, she did not repeat the
campaign with the intention to win. Rigoberta stated in an interview that from the
beginning she knew she would lose, but still ran to make a statement (Garza, M. 2014).
Without a doubt, this would encourage other women from impoverished, rural, alienated
backgrounds participate politically. Furthermore, the political involvement of Rigoberta as
an indigenous women is a call for gender inclusion, and recognition of indigenous rights.
Thus, Rigoberta Menchu serves as an example of individual and collective action being
successful for furthering the process towards women’s indigenous emancipation.
Even though Rigoberta is not the first Maya historically to exercise political agency her
influence is massive, and the process to what she has achieved is inspirational for others.
She discusses concerns regarding the position of women in the developing world, with a
defence of women’s and indigenous rights as fundamental human rights (Baumeister, A.
Bryson, V. 2006 pp. 196).
28. 28
5) International Community
Indigenous women’s collective action was also directed towards the international
community. International events such as the World Conference on Women in Beijing in
1995, where indigenous women produced a ‘Declaration of Indigenous Women,’ indigenous
women have urged governments and non-state actors to adopt concrete measures to
promote and reinforce national policies and programs in favour of women’s human rights,
health, education and economic development. As the women sought to protect and
advance fundamental principles of human rights with a unique indigenous women’s
perspective, they also used the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women, the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International
Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, as well as through the UN Permanent Forum on
Indigenous People (www.un.org). They have used the international community for aid,
funds, humanitarian assistance since the 1990s with and after the Peace Accords. In
response thee UN and other organisations have used human rights frameworks to advance
indigenous rights as women, and address issues of access to justice, violence against
women, inequality, political empowerment, discrimination and economic issues.
Campaigns have focused on bettering indigenous women’s current situation and
opportunities for economic growth. The International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development has focused on inclusive growth and reduction of historically high levels of
exclusion, they state they have contributed to reducing overall poverty in Guatemala from
56 percent to 51 percent over 2000-06 and raising net primary school enrolment to 95
percent from 85 percent through 2000-08 (worldbank.org). Both factors of poverty and
illiteracy are more common for the indigenous population, so even though the data doesn’t
distinguish which part of that percentage is indigenous it is still valuable in showing overall
economic and social problems prevail. Furthermore 56 per cent of indigenous households
live in poverty, and in 2006 nearly 70 percent of indigenous children suffered from chronic
malnutrition compared to 36 percent of non-indigenous children (worldbank.org). Because
of existing poverty and inequality the UN Women’s Strategic Plan has promoted indigenous
women’s access to sustainable livelihoods, productive assets and decent work, increased
29. 29
resilience in disaster risk reduction and climate change mitigation, poverty reduction, and
their participation in economic policy formulation and implementation (www.un.org). Their
work has the ambition of economically empowering indigenous women which is a massive
part for their emancipation.
The issue of overall inequality has also been addressed. In 2007 a number of indigenous
women secured the adoption by the General Assembly of the United Nations Declaration on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Macleod, M. Sieder, R. 2009). Article 2 states that
“indigenous peoples and individuals are free and equal to all other peoples and individuals
and have the right to be free from any kind of discrimination, in the exercise of their rights,
in particular that based on their indigenous origin or identity.” (www.un.org 2010). This also
shows a response and success to women’s protests and collective action analysed in chapter
4, with recent international recognition for their rights and defence of culture. UN Women
also work with transforming governance and national planning to reinforce gender equality
commitments and priorities by engaging indigenous women’s organizations, gender
advocates in support of gender-responsive national planning and budgeting processes
through public institution (www.un.org). More recent plans such as the United Nations
Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women Strategic Plan (2014-2017),
follow up on this for the future as indigenous peoples across Guatemala continue to suffer
discrimination (www.amnesty.org).
The international community has also attempted to tackle the issue of violence against
women. Even during the armed conflict organisations such as Amnesty International
acknowledged the violence against women. In June 1990 they expressed apprehension over
the attempted abduction of fourteen individuals, which many where CONAVIGUA members.
(Radcliffe, S. Westwood, S. 1993 pp. 56) The support of international organisations
especially during the Peace Accords put attention on the Guatemalan government which
made it harder for them to commit violence against the population, therefore, the
international community was a great political alliance to have against the state. To illustrate
this, OAS Human Rights Court injunctions have helped by increasing state protection for
Guatemalan activists, arresting individuals threatening GAM activists (Brysk A. 2009 pp.
275). In addition, UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2014-2017 has a large focus on combating
violence, using intergovernmental agreements such as the Convention on the Elimination of
30. 30
All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the UN Declaration on Violence Against
Women; the 2006 in-depth study of the UN Secretary General on Violence Against Women;
and the Agreed Conclusions of the 57th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women.
(www.un.org) Also, UN Women Guatemala’s alliance with CONAVIGUA has increased the
leadership of indigenous women in peace building, human rights training, access to justice,
and peace and security, helping the organisation’s work towards abolishing sexual violence
and widowhood related to the armed conflict (www.un.org). Furthermore, the UN
Programme on Strengthening the Institutional Environment for the Advancement of Women
in Guatemala has made progress in the application of gender policies, in services provision
for survivors of gender-based violence and for the empowerment of women in decision-
making processes. It has also strengthened the Office for the Defense of Indigenous Women
(DEMI) and the Presidential Secretariat for Women (www.unwomen.org).
However even though we can examine improvement and more attention and funds focused
on the issue of violence, Amnesty International in 2012 have still found alarming levels of
violence against women, with 631 cases of sexual abuse and violent killings in 2011, and
5,700 in the past 10 years. Moreover, there is also a prevailing issue of lack of prosecution of
culprits, with only few cases ever being investigated or convicted (www.amnesty.org).
The international community has advocated for improving women’s equal access and
quality to justices, and overall equality before the law regardless of religion, property, which
are crucial for emancipation. If laws and rights aren’t respected or backed up by the state
they become meaningless. Thus, the UN Women’s tackles these issues by funding projects
increasing indigenous women’s access to justice through both formal and ancestral-
indigenous justice systems. In addition, the UN program provided training for paralegals and
community based informal actors with the aims to tackle the gaps in existing legislation
relating to violence against indigenous women and girls (www.un.org). Also, OXFAM GB, the
European Union have provided financial aid to local organisations, such as CONAVIGUA, and
Maya public defenders. This advances the public defenders improvement of prosecuting
crimes against indigenous women’s human rights and encourage denouncing cases of
violence against women. More so, they are so important because they offer legal staff who
can speak the same language as the victims (Macleod, M. Sieder, R. 2009). Being able to
31. 31
communicate and essentially for women to be heard makes it easier to denounce crimes
and prosecute them.
To illustrate the improvements, Sebastian Elgueta, Guatemala researcher at Amnesty
International, states thanks to international support there has been relative progress for
human rights, particularly when it comes to bringing to justice some of those responsible for
the abuses committed during the internal armed conflict and explaining: “It is essential that
cases of past crimes continue to be brought, to show that Guatemala is serious about
dealing with the horrors of the past." Further, the international Community has supported
local institutions such as public institution DEMI, established in 1999 under the auspices of
the presidential commission for human rights, it serves to tackle discrimination by providing
legal advice and generally promote the collective rights of indigenous women, through
publishing reports and lobbying Congress (Sieder R. 2014). DEMI works on a local level for
the prevention and provision of legal, psycho-physical-social support to survivors of gender-
based violence and has approximately dealt with 9,265 cases (www.un.org), However, DEMI
is highly dependent on international development funds, and there are doubts whether the
government and judiciary will continue to support them after international funding ends
(Sieder R. 2014).
However abuses against indigenous women continue and human rights defenders remain
under attack (www.amnesty.org). Other reports by Latin American academics also state that
despite some distinguished advances the quality of justice remains very poor and still
generally excludes indigenous people. Furthermore, many women still lack access to the
official justice system in their own language with few judges or lawyers from Mayan descent
or can speak indigenous languages, meaning the numbers of interpreters employed in the
justice system is not enough to meet demand and there is still need for more international
and national support to address the issues (Sieder, R, 2014).
6) Conclusion
In conclusion, the research has proven indigenous Guatemalan women have achieved
meaningful changes and an advancement of emancipation by overcoming resources
limitations, creating political alliances with the international community and through
32. 32
independent collective action. The development of social movements since the 1980s has
been considerable, with a shift from more general aims for rights and issues towards the
focus of gender issues. This is due to the women acknowledging their political presence and
questioning discrimination, poverty, inequality, violence, and abuse that has historically
prevailed in their existence as indigenous people. The research also touched on the
complexity of how they’re gender rights are inextricably linked to their ethnicity, thus
reforms on rights have mostly encompassed both.
The project has used a variety of sources, from quantitative and qualitative, to photographs
and images, and a mix of primary and secondary sources. The research has proven that not
only one type of source was most important as the contribution from the different ones
joined to build an argument throughout. Moreover there was a significant literature gap on
the specific topic of Guatemala’s indigenous female emancipation and a focus on their
female collective action. Due to this the project had to deeply investigate the topic, finding
strong evidence in reports from organisations such as United Nations, the women’s
organisations websites, and regional researchers such as Sieder, R. Furthermore, it was a
hard to gather statistical information on the topic before the Peace accords (1996), and thus
trying to deceiver the progress made through the years was challenging. This is possibly
attributed to the conflict and the fact that indigenous women come from isolated, rural
backgrounds, where it’s hard to measure and track them for statistics. Overall, the piece of
work used history books, academic accounts, personal accounts, reviews, autobiographies,
interviews, documentaries, numerical information, theories, opinions, websites, and thus
has used them all to generate an original argument and statement to contribute to the
literature gap.
Mobilisation and resources in protest movements was explored using resource mobilisation
theory, political opportunity model and the cultural opportunity model. In critic of theories,
the resource mobilisation theory can be challenged in the specific case of Guatemala’s
indigenous women movements. Using community based resources, such as the church,
unions, as well as more use of human resources and effort such as participating in protests,
marches, speeches, demonstrations, petitions, flyers, women were able to mobilse. This
shows the high impact human effort and agency has on mobilisation, even overcoming
limitations of material resources. However the case does show the impact of state
33. 33
repression and the high importance of political allies, affirming arguments from the political
opportunity model that mobilisation is hindered without strong political allies. Moreover,
protest theories succeeded in explaining indigenous women’s process towards
emancipation, and showing how they came to rely on the international community to
provide them with credibility, security, financial support and resources when the state
didn’t.
Indigenous collective action and protest tactics in Guatemala demonstrated how they used
a wide variety of non-violent protest tactics: marches, speeches, petitions, truth seeking,
testimonies, cultural resistance, education, media, and legal action, as well as some women
participating in the guerrilla forces up to 1996. Overall the research uncovered that the
process towards women’s emancipation is not a straight and simple one, but one with many
obstacles and challenges as well as different responses to these. Furthermore, women
participated through human rights frameworks, others in political and legal action or
women with less to loose where more involved with the guerrilla forces, and more currently
a number of indigenous women work towards emancipation with a feminist approach.
The political figure of Rigoberta Menchu was used as an example of how social movements
have brought women to the foreground, valuing the contribution of women, and
strengthening their role in the community, where she has reflected the topic of gender,
maya identity, intra-personal relationships and individual rights (Macleod, M. Sieder, R.
2009 www.unicefninezindigena.org). After, the role of the international community and
international human rights frameworks was also investigated, showing how they have
influenced and supported the work of local organisations and institutions as well as
implementing their own programmes for development. Overall international actors have
been meaningful in facilitating female participation in mobilisation and emancipation.
Even though it is complex to measure indigenous woman’s collective actions’ impact,
outcomes and success at achieving emancipation, we can clearly say that since the 1980s
there has been considerable progress in women empowerment and the advancement of
female indigenous rights. Furthermore women’s movements by originally seeking to
discredit military regimes also contributed to usher in democratic transitions, influenced
political discourse, political strategies and policies. However there is still existing challenges
with indigenous women still not commonly holding positions of power and authority, and
34. 34
continuing to face historic challenges of poverty, inequality, exclusion and discrimination. To
conclude, the research shows that with more involvement and support from the
international community, and especially the United Nations, as well as national progress in
reforms and legislation, in addition to continuous indigenous women’s movements and
actors; works, full emancipation of indigenous women is closer than ever.
35. 35
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