Stop Femicide!

During the 36-year armed civil conflict, war rape was a common tool of torture used against women, their families, and indigenous communities, in general. Because there is considerable attention being given to the Sudan, Congo, and other areas where war rape are commonly occuring in a conflict environment, it is important to look back at the history of this war crime and consider how it has impacted violence against women and femicide in Guatemala's post-conflict environment.

Undoubtedly, the use of rape against women and their families during the 36 year armed conflict has implications for the current reality of femicide. It must be understood that the symbolism of these crimes, the abuse of women's bodies, is a tool to terrrorize the people of Guatemala at the community-level. It creates a sense of fear and chaos in the social order. Because everyone in Guatemala knows that they are vulnerable, even men know that their mothers, sisters, and wives are targeted for violence. As a result these crimes create a sense of insecurity. Who benefits from this insecurity? Narco-traffickers? Gangs? The elite, top 2-3% of Guatemala? There are no easy answers...

During the war years, it was not uncommon for women to be raped in front of their families as a message of fear and a form of reprisal for resistance.  

One may ask if Guatemala has a culture of violence? It certainly has an astonishing history of violence but does this so called "culture" have its origin in the war years and the past atrocities, including war rape? The people of Guatemala undoubtedly have a unique and distinct culture which has been deeply impacted by prolonged conflict. To suggest that they have embraced a culture of violence as a way of life is to overlook the many Guatemalans who speak out against violence. That is, the human rights defenders who actively engage in advocacy work as well as the many Guatemalans who carry out acts of non-violence on a daily basis. Also, rape is socially stigmatized in Guatemala like many other cultures. Finally, cultural characteristics exist because the behaviors ultimately are good for the long-term survival of the group. That leaves us with a question, WHY do these extreme acts of violence against women and femicide continue to persist and even escalate?

There are no easy answers. There are obvious consequences to the dynamics of violence in Guatemala. The state is one which is insecure for its citizenry, especially women and girls. Rape clearly is a component of these crimes which exist on a continuum of violence.

Finally, maybe the answer lies in the fact that the war may have ended in "Peace Accords" in 1996, but the war against women clearly rages on.

The truth and reconciliation process in Guatemala found that war rape as a commonly occuring feature of the oppression of indigenous women, their families, and communities. Often rapes would be carried out in public viewing as a message to the entire group and women's bodies would be brutalized in this manner to instill fear and terror while demoralizing the "enemy." One must ask, how has this dynamic of war rape translated into the current problem of femicide?