Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/13552074.2023.2177020
Rebecca Contreras
On 16 December 2022, Virginia Laparra, the former head of Guatemala’s Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI) in Quetzaltenango, was unjustly sentenced to four years in prison for abuse of authority, in a trial denounced by the international community (Barreto 2022). The weaponisation of the criminal justice system to persecute Laparra stems from her role as a woman working to dismantle organised crime, and points to the misogynistic enforcement mechanisms adopted by the Guatemalan state to undermine the rule of law in the country (Medinilla 2022). In their study, Carey and Torres (2010, 162) found that the Guatemalan legal system was designed and overseen by male elite interests, using the legal system to enforce patriarchal norms during authoritarian and democratic governments. Through the sentence and ongoing criminal proceedings leveraged against Laparra, the Guatemalan state reinforces gender inequity to govern and maintain the patriarchal status quo (Carey and Torres 2010, 161). Kate Manne’s (2018, 19) concept of misogyny, as the system that enforces women’s subordination and upholds ‘male dominance against the backdrop of other intersecting systems of oppression and vulnerability’, is particularly useful to understand the use of the legal system against Laparra. This definition departs from the mainstream understanding of misogyny as a personalised hatred of women by virtue of being women, and instead sees it as a systemic phenomenon that punishes a particular woman or group of women for their perceived violation of patriarchal law and order (Manne 2018, 19). These modes of enforcement stem not from directly challenging gender norms themselves, but rather by challenging the system of power more broadly. In her role as the head of FECI’s office in Quetzaltenango, Laparra led investigations and persecution of high-level corruption and organised crime cases in the departments of Quetzaltenango, Totonicapán, San Marcos, and Huehuetenango in conjunction with the now-defunct United Nations-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) (Aikman Cifuentes and Beltrán 2021). As such, she has been disproportionately punished by the state by virtue of her identity as a woman using the very legal system that has traditionally condoned the subjugation of women to dismantle entrenched criminal structures in the country. This is evident in the charges brought against her, which come as the result of presenting legal complaints against a high-risk judge, Lesther Castellanos, for filtering information
{"title":"Engendering injustice: gendered lawfare in Guatemala","authors":"Rebecca Contreras","doi":"10.1080/13552074.2023.2177020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13552074.2023.2177020","url":null,"abstract":"On 16 December 2022, Virginia Laparra, the former head of Guatemala’s Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI) in Quetzaltenango, was unjustly sentenced to four years in prison for abuse of authority, in a trial denounced by the international community (Barreto 2022). The weaponisation of the criminal justice system to persecute Laparra stems from her role as a woman working to dismantle organised crime, and points to the misogynistic enforcement mechanisms adopted by the Guatemalan state to undermine the rule of law in the country (Medinilla 2022). In their study, Carey and Torres (2010, 162) found that the Guatemalan legal system was designed and overseen by male elite interests, using the legal system to enforce patriarchal norms during authoritarian and democratic governments. Through the sentence and ongoing criminal proceedings leveraged against Laparra, the Guatemalan state reinforces gender inequity to govern and maintain the patriarchal status quo (Carey and Torres 2010, 161). Kate Manne’s (2018, 19) concept of misogyny, as the system that enforces women’s subordination and upholds ‘male dominance against the backdrop of other intersecting systems of oppression and vulnerability’, is particularly useful to understand the use of the legal system against Laparra. This definition departs from the mainstream understanding of misogyny as a personalised hatred of women by virtue of being women, and instead sees it as a systemic phenomenon that punishes a particular woman or group of women for their perceived violation of patriarchal law and order (Manne 2018, 19). These modes of enforcement stem not from directly challenging gender norms themselves, but rather by challenging the system of power more broadly. In her role as the head of FECI’s office in Quetzaltenango, Laparra led investigations and persecution of high-level corruption and organised crime cases in the departments of Quetzaltenango, Totonicapán, San Marcos, and Huehuetenango in conjunction with the now-defunct United Nations-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) (Aikman Cifuentes and Beltrán 2021). As such, she has been disproportionately punished by the state by virtue of her identity as a woman using the very legal system that has traditionally condoned the subjugation of women to dismantle entrenched criminal structures in the country. This is evident in the charges brought against her, which come as the result of presenting legal complaints against a high-risk judge, Lesther Castellanos, for filtering information","PeriodicalId":35882,"journal":{"name":"Gender and Development","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42232864","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/13552074.2023.2186632
Nidhi Tandon, D. Meertens, S. Satija, Anandita Ghosh
This year’s first special issue of Gender & Development addresses the critical theme of women human rights defenders (WHRDs) and their unwavering commitment towards the protection and advancement of gender justice and human rights of vulnerable groups. WHRDs continue their work despite serious threats to their lives, livelihoods, and physical and mental well-being. As this edition of the journal goes to print, media headlines and broadcast interviews report the murder of a Kenyan LGBTQ activist Edwin Chiloba, who was smothered to death (Rédaction Africanews with AFP 2023), the extension of pre-trial detention for Gulnara Dzhurabayeva, Klara Sooronkulova, Rita Karasartova, and Asya Sasykbayeva’s in Kyrgyzstan who were arrested for peacefully protesting against the transfer of ownership of the Kempir-Abad water reserve from Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan (Frontline Defenders 2023), and four men were hanged in the past few months, and several other human rights defenders remain at risk of execution for protesting against the Iranian government (Fassihi and Engelbrecht 2023). In 2021, the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre recorded more than 600 attacks worldwide against human rights defenders, raising concerns about harmful business practices – with 70 per cent (seven in ten) taking place against climate, land, and environmental rights defenders (Business and Human Rights Resource Centre 2022). Against this backdrop of increasing human rights violations, rising political authoritarianism, emboldening of extremists and reactionary groups, continuing ecological degradation, protracted wars, hostility towards refugees and migrants, and the abject failure of governments and the international community to protect the rights of the dispossessed, this issue amplifies the voices of women and those fighting alongside women and vulnerable groups. Common threads run through the articles and essays in this issue. One is that governments, even the formally democratic ones, tend to be ambivalent about human rights and especially about the political positions that women take to agitate towards progressive changes. Governments may opt to tame, depoliticise, or minimise the efforts of WHRDs, both overtly and covertly. Second, women are often the very ones to protect the vulnerable, the marginalised, and the systemically excluded, continuing to build social capital and agency, and often operating in conflict or militarised zones, in areas of industrial extraction, and against influential and powerful forces of finance capital. Third, WHRDs share a common experience – that of being relentlessly silenced into submission,
{"title":"Women human rights defenders","authors":"Nidhi Tandon, D. Meertens, S. Satija, Anandita Ghosh","doi":"10.1080/13552074.2023.2186632","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13552074.2023.2186632","url":null,"abstract":"This year’s first special issue of Gender & Development addresses the critical theme of women human rights defenders (WHRDs) and their unwavering commitment towards the protection and advancement of gender justice and human rights of vulnerable groups. WHRDs continue their work despite serious threats to their lives, livelihoods, and physical and mental well-being. As this edition of the journal goes to print, media headlines and broadcast interviews report the murder of a Kenyan LGBTQ activist Edwin Chiloba, who was smothered to death (Rédaction Africanews with AFP 2023), the extension of pre-trial detention for Gulnara Dzhurabayeva, Klara Sooronkulova, Rita Karasartova, and Asya Sasykbayeva’s in Kyrgyzstan who were arrested for peacefully protesting against the transfer of ownership of the Kempir-Abad water reserve from Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan (Frontline Defenders 2023), and four men were hanged in the past few months, and several other human rights defenders remain at risk of execution for protesting against the Iranian government (Fassihi and Engelbrecht 2023). In 2021, the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre recorded more than 600 attacks worldwide against human rights defenders, raising concerns about harmful business practices – with 70 per cent (seven in ten) taking place against climate, land, and environmental rights defenders (Business and Human Rights Resource Centre 2022). Against this backdrop of increasing human rights violations, rising political authoritarianism, emboldening of extremists and reactionary groups, continuing ecological degradation, protracted wars, hostility towards refugees and migrants, and the abject failure of governments and the international community to protect the rights of the dispossessed, this issue amplifies the voices of women and those fighting alongside women and vulnerable groups. Common threads run through the articles and essays in this issue. One is that governments, even the formally democratic ones, tend to be ambivalent about human rights and especially about the political positions that women take to agitate towards progressive changes. Governments may opt to tame, depoliticise, or minimise the efforts of WHRDs, both overtly and covertly. Second, women are often the very ones to protect the vulnerable, the marginalised, and the systemically excluded, continuing to build social capital and agency, and often operating in conflict or militarised zones, in areas of industrial extraction, and against influential and powerful forces of finance capital. Third, WHRDs share a common experience – that of being relentlessly silenced into submission,","PeriodicalId":35882,"journal":{"name":"Gender and Development","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46204491","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/13552074.2023.2181539
M. Chiweshe, Primrose Hove
ABSTRACT This paper focuses on providing a nuanced understanding of how COVID-19 lockdowns in Zimbabwe exacerbated the vulnerability of women human rights defenders (WHRDs). It utilises a desk research approach to narrate the lived experiences of WHRDs in a context where historically they have faced abuse, exclusion, and social and political stigma. COVID-19 evolved from a public health crisis to a sociopolitical and economic crisis that affected multiple groups. Government responses to COVID-19 exacerbated the ‘hostile environment’ specifically for WHRDs in different social and virtual spaces, and they had to grapple with the multi-dimensional crises of livelihoods, health, state repression, and everyday survival. Civil and political liberties came under severe attack in Zimbabwe after March 2020. The most apparent were the violations of the right to freedom of movement and the right to freedom of association (including the right to religion) through curtailment of population mobility as well as postponement of political and elections-related activities on 25 March 2020. In all these spaces WHRDs were targeted by government and their activities curtailed by the curfews imposed within communities. The soaring economic crisis and the effects of COVID-19 are intertwined with police brutality, abduction of political and media personalities including WHRDs, and harassment of press and silencing of WHRD voices. State-sponsored attacks against women have come in the form of beatings by the police and army, and arrests under the guise of enforcing COVID-19 restrictions. This paper also highlights the agency of WHRDs to continuously create spaces and ways to keep fighting for improved service delivery in the face of increased state repression, by confronting institutionalised impunity, risking jail to protect and promote civic and political rights, and challenging oppressive traditional practices.
{"title":"Intersectional analysis of women human rights defenders’ lived experiences under COVID-19 lockdowns in Zimbabwe","authors":"M. Chiweshe, Primrose Hove","doi":"10.1080/13552074.2023.2181539","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13552074.2023.2181539","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This paper focuses on providing a nuanced understanding of how COVID-19 lockdowns in Zimbabwe exacerbated the vulnerability of women human rights defenders (WHRDs). It utilises a desk research approach to narrate the lived experiences of WHRDs in a context where historically they have faced abuse, exclusion, and social and political stigma. COVID-19 evolved from a public health crisis to a sociopolitical and economic crisis that affected multiple groups. Government responses to COVID-19 exacerbated the ‘hostile environment’ specifically for WHRDs in different social and virtual spaces, and they had to grapple with the multi-dimensional crises of livelihoods, health, state repression, and everyday survival. Civil and political liberties came under severe attack in Zimbabwe after March 2020. The most apparent were the violations of the right to freedom of movement and the right to freedom of association (including the right to religion) through curtailment of population mobility as well as postponement of political and elections-related activities on 25 March 2020. In all these spaces WHRDs were targeted by government and their activities curtailed by the curfews imposed within communities. The soaring economic crisis and the effects of COVID-19 are intertwined with police brutality, abduction of political and media personalities including WHRDs, and harassment of press and silencing of WHRD voices. State-sponsored attacks against women have come in the form of beatings by the police and army, and arrests under the guise of enforcing COVID-19 restrictions. This paper also highlights the agency of WHRDs to continuously create spaces and ways to keep fighting for improved service delivery in the face of increased state repression, by confronting institutionalised impunity, risking jail to protect and promote civic and political rights, and challenging oppressive traditional practices.","PeriodicalId":35882,"journal":{"name":"Gender and Development","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43471381","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/13552074.2023.2184559
Luisa Fernanda Gáfaro Duque
{"title":"Cristina Bautista, colombiana e indígena, lideresa social y tejedora de pensamiento y comunidad","authors":"Luisa Fernanda Gáfaro Duque","doi":"10.1080/13552074.2023.2184559","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13552074.2023.2184559","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":35882,"journal":{"name":"Gender and Development","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46352807","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/13552074.2023.2173888
Aishwarya Bhuta
{"title":"Ekla Chalo Re: a tribute to Ms. Mary Roy","authors":"Aishwarya Bhuta","doi":"10.1080/13552074.2023.2173888","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13552074.2023.2173888","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":35882,"journal":{"name":"Gender and Development","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42884272","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/13552074.2023.2184532
S. Vargas, Carolina Oviedo
El 31 de octubre de 2022 el Comité para la Eliminación de la Discriminación contra la Mujer adoptó la Recomendación general N° 39 sobre los derechos de las mujeres y niñas indígenas (en adelante, RG 39) que, entre otras cosas, señala la importancia de que las medidas de protección y el acceso a la justicia deban abordarse desde una mirada interseccional. Esto implica que hay que tomar en cuenta los múltiples retos asociados al racismo, al colonialismo, al sexismo y a las barreras para el pleno acceso a derechos individuales y colectivos. Esta mirada es crucial para entender la extrema gravedad de las violencias diferenciadas en los casos de las mujeres defensoras del ambiente y del territorio. Como el caso de Augostina Mayan, lideresa awajún, que desde el 2009 denuncia las afectaciones del avance de la minería en territorio indígena al norte de la Amazonía peruana (Hurtado 2022). Como lideresa de la Organización de Desarrollo de las Comunidades Fronterizas del Cenepa (ODECOFROC), se ha enfrentado a mineros y comuneros indígenas que han terminado cediendo su territorio por incentivos económicos, pues la minería ilegal se presenta como aparente solución frente a los efectos negativos de las políticasmacroeconómicas neoliberales y la ausencia estatal, pese a los impactos sociales y ambientales que van desde la contaminación por mercurio hasta el aumento de violencia sexual y aparición de trata de personas. En su lucha ha padecido diversas amenazas, violencias físicas, psicológicas y espirituales, y una constante vulneración de sus derechos individuales y colectivos (Durand 2021). En este sentido, la RG 39 reconoce al despojo territorial como una forma de violencia hacia las mujeres indígenas porque amenaza la conexión y relación con la tierra, el territorio y los lugares sagrados, dado que la relación es espiritual y no meramente patrimonial. Además, afecta de manera permanente sus planes y medios de vida individuales y comunitarios. Asimismo, se evidencia la violencia ambiental, expresada en este caso por la contaminación minera y la falta de fiscalización y sanción por parte del Estado. En este contexto, las lideresas de ODECOFROC han demandado el cese de la actividad y una interdicción estatal frente a todos los riesgos que afrontan. Si hay algo que la interseccionalidad nos muestra es que las violencias que viven las mujeres defensoras, además de ser coloniales y neoliberales, son patriarcales. Así, Augostina ha sufrido violencia espiritual al ser acusada de ‘bruja’. Esta acusación muestra la
{"title":"El caso de Augostina Mayan y las violencias diferenciadas hacia las defensoras del ambiente y del territorio en Perú","authors":"S. Vargas, Carolina Oviedo","doi":"10.1080/13552074.2023.2184532","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13552074.2023.2184532","url":null,"abstract":"El 31 de octubre de 2022 el Comité para la Eliminación de la Discriminación contra la Mujer adoptó la Recomendación general N° 39 sobre los derechos de las mujeres y niñas indígenas (en adelante, RG 39) que, entre otras cosas, señala la importancia de que las medidas de protección y el acceso a la justicia deban abordarse desde una mirada interseccional. Esto implica que hay que tomar en cuenta los múltiples retos asociados al racismo, al colonialismo, al sexismo y a las barreras para el pleno acceso a derechos individuales y colectivos. Esta mirada es crucial para entender la extrema gravedad de las violencias diferenciadas en los casos de las mujeres defensoras del ambiente y del territorio. Como el caso de Augostina Mayan, lideresa awajún, que desde el 2009 denuncia las afectaciones del avance de la minería en territorio indígena al norte de la Amazonía peruana (Hurtado 2022). Como lideresa de la Organización de Desarrollo de las Comunidades Fronterizas del Cenepa (ODECOFROC), se ha enfrentado a mineros y comuneros indígenas que han terminado cediendo su territorio por incentivos económicos, pues la minería ilegal se presenta como aparente solución frente a los efectos negativos de las políticasmacroeconómicas neoliberales y la ausencia estatal, pese a los impactos sociales y ambientales que van desde la contaminación por mercurio hasta el aumento de violencia sexual y aparición de trata de personas. En su lucha ha padecido diversas amenazas, violencias físicas, psicológicas y espirituales, y una constante vulneración de sus derechos individuales y colectivos (Durand 2021). En este sentido, la RG 39 reconoce al despojo territorial como una forma de violencia hacia las mujeres indígenas porque amenaza la conexión y relación con la tierra, el territorio y los lugares sagrados, dado que la relación es espiritual y no meramente patrimonial. Además, afecta de manera permanente sus planes y medios de vida individuales y comunitarios. Asimismo, se evidencia la violencia ambiental, expresada en este caso por la contaminación minera y la falta de fiscalización y sanción por parte del Estado. En este contexto, las lideresas de ODECOFROC han demandado el cese de la actividad y una interdicción estatal frente a todos los riesgos que afrontan. Si hay algo que la interseccionalidad nos muestra es que las violencias que viven las mujeres defensoras, además de ser coloniales y neoliberales, son patriarcales. Así, Augostina ha sufrido violencia espiritual al ser acusada de ‘bruja’. Esta acusación muestra la","PeriodicalId":35882,"journal":{"name":"Gender and Development","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45508989","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/13552074.2023.2167771
H. McEwen
future health, and that their views cannot be asked either. One wonders if this is not another generative moment to unfold in the future, where suspicion will be nested in these conversations, in what is said and not said, and the decisions adults make about these young girls and their bodies. The book is bounded by the historical and geographical parameters defined by colonial powers. Its epicentre is Barbados and its broader border the Anglo-speaking Caribbean region. Yet, an analysis like this could well have been extended to other communities and their responses to biomedical authorities in their postcolonial contexts. Unfortunately, while some references to other cases outside the region are brought into consideration, this is done too sparsely. However, this does not take away its merits, as ultimately, I do believe that a book should always be measured against what it has set out to do, and this is a well-accomplished book that does what it set out to do.
{"title":"Miss Major Speaks: The Life and Legacy of a Black Trans Revolutionary","authors":"H. McEwen","doi":"10.1080/13552074.2023.2167771","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13552074.2023.2167771","url":null,"abstract":"future health, and that their views cannot be asked either. One wonders if this is not another generative moment to unfold in the future, where suspicion will be nested in these conversations, in what is said and not said, and the decisions adults make about these young girls and their bodies. The book is bounded by the historical and geographical parameters defined by colonial powers. Its epicentre is Barbados and its broader border the Anglo-speaking Caribbean region. Yet, an analysis like this could well have been extended to other communities and their responses to biomedical authorities in their postcolonial contexts. Unfortunately, while some references to other cases outside the region are brought into consideration, this is done too sparsely. However, this does not take away its merits, as ultimately, I do believe that a book should always be measured against what it has set out to do, and this is a well-accomplished book that does what it set out to do.","PeriodicalId":35882,"journal":{"name":"Gender and Development","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46090497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/13552074.2023.2167770
July Samira Fajardo, María Adelaida Palacio
ABSTRACT The role of women human rights defenders in Colombia is fundamental. The conditions of socioeconomic inequality, gender-based inequalities and discrimination, and the armed conflict have been complex scenarios in which women’s leadership in the defence of human rights and peace have played a leading role. The creation of diverse collective processes and social networks at the local and national levels have been crucial strategies in the work of women defenders, their advocacy, and their forms of resistance. Their impact is undeniable. However, the work of women human rights defenders in Colombia has not been easy and has been frequently threatened. Hundreds of women human rights defenders have left the country as exiles over the past three decades or have been forcibly displaced within the country to protect their lives, many have suffered direct attacks, and some of them have been killed. The forms and impacts of violence against them have differential characteristics with respect to other defenders, which reveal the presence of gender stereotypes. In addition, indigenous, peasant, and lesbian, bisexual and trans women (LBT women) defenders face aggravated risks. Paradoxically, their visibility in the defence of peace has had very high costs for them after the signing of the Peace Accord between government and FARC-EP guerrillas in 2016. Women here are at a differential risk not only because they support the Peace Accord implementation in contexts where there are sectors that oppose it, but because they have gone beyond the low-key behaviour that is still expected for women in the political arena in many places of Colombia. Despite all this, they continue to lead the defence of human rights and their political advocacy has led to the creation of specific protection programmes for them by the Colombian state, the implementation of which is currently a challenge.
{"title":"The marks of gender in the defence of human rights in Colombia","authors":"July Samira Fajardo, María Adelaida Palacio","doi":"10.1080/13552074.2023.2167770","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13552074.2023.2167770","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The role of women human rights defenders in Colombia is fundamental. The conditions of socioeconomic inequality, gender-based inequalities and discrimination, and the armed conflict have been complex scenarios in which women’s leadership in the defence of human rights and peace have played a leading role. The creation of diverse collective processes and social networks at the local and national levels have been crucial strategies in the work of women defenders, their advocacy, and their forms of resistance. Their impact is undeniable. However, the work of women human rights defenders in Colombia has not been easy and has been frequently threatened. Hundreds of women human rights defenders have left the country as exiles over the past three decades or have been forcibly displaced within the country to protect their lives, many have suffered direct attacks, and some of them have been killed. The forms and impacts of violence against them have differential characteristics with respect to other defenders, which reveal the presence of gender stereotypes. In addition, indigenous, peasant, and lesbian, bisexual and trans women (LBT women) defenders face aggravated risks. Paradoxically, their visibility in the defence of peace has had very high costs for them after the signing of the Peace Accord between government and FARC-EP guerrillas in 2016. Women here are at a differential risk not only because they support the Peace Accord implementation in contexts where there are sectors that oppose it, but because they have gone beyond the low-key behaviour that is still expected for women in the political arena in many places of Colombia. Despite all this, they continue to lead the defence of human rights and their political advocacy has led to the creation of specific protection programmes for them by the Colombian state, the implementation of which is currently a challenge.","PeriodicalId":35882,"journal":{"name":"Gender and Development","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47405380","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/13552074.2023.2177018
Pooja Chetry
ABSTRACT Masculinity and manhood are prerequisite characteristics desired and demanded from every male individual born in Indian society. They are taught to become an ‘Ideal Indian Man’ from the time they are born. Critical reading of masculine attributes is an important facet of feminist discourse. Men who become a part of this quest and movement as ‘women rights activists’, fighting against gender inequality, are often ridiculed and discouraged. In this context, this paper brings out the narratives and struggles of being a male ‘women human rights defender’ in India. According to the information published on the official website of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), women human rights defenders (WHRDs) are people of all genders who work, promote, defend, advance, and advocate for gender equality, and stand for the cause of human rights of women. Hence, going by the definition mentioned above, I argue that a feminist man working relentlessly on women’s issues will surely fall under the category of ‘women human rights defenders’. Their personal experiences and struggles as WHRDs working in their local areas voice varied forms of challenges, stigma, ostracisation, and life risks that otherwise go unnoticed, unspoken, and at times trivialised because of their gender. With an objective to bring out a broader conversation between masculinity studies and feminist scholarship, this paper analyses the challenges of being feminist male WHRDs. To examine this position as a WHRD, the paper will look into the questions of (1) being a man who is always looked upon with suspicion as a person occupying a privileged gender position; (2) a man working on gender-sensitive issues such as human/sex trafficking, child abuse, violence, conflict, and displacement; and (3) his regional location and social class. This paper will structure details of different forms of gender-based lived experiences of selected male WHRDs working in various districts of Assam and West Bengal, through personal interview methods.
{"title":"Politics of gender: challenges of being a feminist male women human rights defender in the north-eastern periphery of India","authors":"Pooja Chetry","doi":"10.1080/13552074.2023.2177018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13552074.2023.2177018","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Masculinity and manhood are prerequisite characteristics desired and demanded from every male individual born in Indian society. They are taught to become an ‘Ideal Indian Man’ from the time they are born. Critical reading of masculine attributes is an important facet of feminist discourse. Men who become a part of this quest and movement as ‘women rights activists’, fighting against gender inequality, are often ridiculed and discouraged. In this context, this paper brings out the narratives and struggles of being a male ‘women human rights defender’ in India. According to the information published on the official website of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), women human rights defenders (WHRDs) are people of all genders who work, promote, defend, advance, and advocate for gender equality, and stand for the cause of human rights of women. Hence, going by the definition mentioned above, I argue that a feminist man working relentlessly on women’s issues will surely fall under the category of ‘women human rights defenders’. Their personal experiences and struggles as WHRDs working in their local areas voice varied forms of challenges, stigma, ostracisation, and life risks that otherwise go unnoticed, unspoken, and at times trivialised because of their gender. With an objective to bring out a broader conversation between masculinity studies and feminist scholarship, this paper analyses the challenges of being feminist male WHRDs. To examine this position as a WHRD, the paper will look into the questions of (1) being a man who is always looked upon with suspicion as a person occupying a privileged gender position; (2) a man working on gender-sensitive issues such as human/sex trafficking, child abuse, violence, conflict, and displacement; and (3) his regional location and social class. This paper will structure details of different forms of gender-based lived experiences of selected male WHRDs working in various districts of Assam and West Bengal, through personal interview methods.","PeriodicalId":35882,"journal":{"name":"Gender and Development","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44632532","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/13552074.2023.2167768
Alethia Fernández de la Reguera Ahedo, Gretchen Kuhner
ABSTRACT The role of women human rights defenders (WHRDs) is not sufficiently studied in the dynamics of social movements nor are the actions of civil society organisations. Nevertheless, WHRDs of migrants in Mexico are essential in defence of human rights and in providing psycho-legal assistance, especially for the most unprotected populations, such as migrants in immigration detention and people who have been victims of crime in transit through Mexico. Moreover, WHRDs’ work contexts and activist trajectories are closely related to migration policies. Mexico has historically been a point of origin for migration to the United States. However, it has become a country of transit, return, and destination in the last 20 years. Therefore, there is a great diversity of origins and trajectories of WHRDs. We analyse the life trajectories of five migrant WHRDs to show how the process of becoming an activist and the distinct forms of activism in the migrant’s rights movement in Mexico are highly influenced by the growing criminalisation and restrictive immigration policies both in Mexico and the United States.
{"title":"‘What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger’: women human rights defenders: trajectories in activism in the context of challenging migration enforcement policies in Mexico and the United States","authors":"Alethia Fernández de la Reguera Ahedo, Gretchen Kuhner","doi":"10.1080/13552074.2023.2167768","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13552074.2023.2167768","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The role of women human rights defenders (WHRDs) is not sufficiently studied in the dynamics of social movements nor are the actions of civil society organisations. Nevertheless, WHRDs of migrants in Mexico are essential in defence of human rights and in providing psycho-legal assistance, especially for the most unprotected populations, such as migrants in immigration detention and people who have been victims of crime in transit through Mexico. Moreover, WHRDs’ work contexts and activist trajectories are closely related to migration policies. Mexico has historically been a point of origin for migration to the United States. However, it has become a country of transit, return, and destination in the last 20 years. Therefore, there is a great diversity of origins and trajectories of WHRDs. We analyse the life trajectories of five migrant WHRDs to show how the process of becoming an activist and the distinct forms of activism in the migrant’s rights movement in Mexico are highly influenced by the growing criminalisation and restrictive immigration policies both in Mexico and the United States.","PeriodicalId":35882,"journal":{"name":"Gender and Development","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44782640","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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