GHRC Mission
Founded in 1982, the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA (GHRC) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, humanitarian organization that monitors, documents, and reports on the human rights situation in Guatemala, advocates for survivors of human rights abuses in Guatemala, and works toward positive, systemic change.
What is happening in Guatemala?
Since 2000, over 3,000 Guatemalan women have been murdered, many of them first abducted and subjected to brutal sexual violence, mutilation, and torture. These gender-based, barbaric crimes have been characterized as “femicides.” Amnesty International places most of the victims between the ages of 16-36 and identifies them as students, housewives and professionals, domestic employees, unskilled workers, members or former members of street youth gangs, and sex workers. In many cases the victims are kidnapped, subjected to severe beatings, rape, sexual mutilation, or perverse torture, then killed and subsequently deposited in relatively public areas.
Year | Number of Women Killed |
2001 | 317 |
2002 | 317 |
2003 | 383 |
2004 | 497 |
2005 | 517 |
2006 | 603 |
2007 | 590 |
2008 | 722 |
Total: | 3496 |
The atrocities committed against women now in Guatemala stem from the violence committed during the 36-year civil war that officially ended in 1996. During the internal armed conflict, paramilitary groups and government soldiers committed widespread human rights violations against women, including using routine rape as a counterrevolutionary tactic. Certain Guatemalan social and cultural norms that endorse the inferiority and domination of women continue this pattern of violence.
Today, sexual harassment, domestic violence, and rape are commonplace in Guatemalan society. A study conducted by la Comisión Nacional para la Prevención de la Violencia Intrafamiliar (CONAPREVI) found that many Guatemalans view abuse as something natural and believe that it is caused by alcoholism, drug addiction, and unemployment. In addition, El Organismo Judicial documented approximately 39,000 cases of intrafamily violence (physical, psychological, and sexual) between January and September 2008.
Furthermore, many young girls are commercially and sexually trafficked against their will. As mentioned earlier, girls who voluntarily or involuntarily become involved in gangs or with gang members often become victims of gang-related violence and vengeance. Some women, not necessarily gang members, have been murdered as a form of revenge or to instill terror or intimidate the local population. Due to incompetent authorities and a weak, underfunded justice system, crimes in Guatemala rarely go punished. Widespread impunity protects criminals and leaves the door open for more violence to occur since perpetrators know they will never face any legal consequences of their actions.
Information Taken from: http://www.ghrc-usa.org/Programs/ForWomensRighttoLive/FAQs.htm#What
This is the information that I think really interested me in going to Guatemala. No, I don't think I can stop this BUT I do think that together we can start having conversations about how to ameliorate these issues.
I read a report the other day about a murder in Guatemala City where a woman was killed because she had red nail polish on and this automatically categorized her as a "sex worker". Basic rights are being violated in Guatemala and I know that there are so many issues here in the US however I also think that we should not be oblivious to the injustices that go on in other countries. Think about how lucky we are.
This is a very helpful report Abby. Hopefully more people will become informed about this situation and decide to take action. Congratulations on your decision and courage to go to Guatemala to help expose the violence there!
ReplyDeleteAny discussion about the violence there must include the fact that the U.S. government has blood on its hands, because for many years both Republican and Democratic presidents and congresses have supported the violent right wing government in Guatemala. The U.S. has done this in order to gain economic hegemony in Guatemala. Indeed, U.S. foreign policy in all of Central America all through the Twentieth Century has had the same goal of propping up violent right wing governments for the purpose of opening up markets and exploiting natural resources.
Therefore, pressure must be put on the Obama administration to address the problem of the violence against women there in Guatemala. The U.S. shares responsibility with the government in Guatemala for the violence, and the U.S. must also share the responsibility for stopping the violence. The U.S. has the power to do this, but up to now, it has not shown the will to do this.
Good luck, be careful, and keep blogging.