Stop violence against indigenous women in Oaxaca

   In Santa María Mixtequilla we began to open spaces for women to come together. For decades, many private and public projects were built in the region, and have intervened in the community by changing livelihoods; this has been reflected in daily life, from the increase in violence to water contamination. We women, meet very little and have few spaces to be heard. That’s why during March we convened a first meeting between women of the community. We are happy to tell you that it was the first time, but it won’t be the last. There are coming activities that are indispensable for the life of women here. 

We invited women of different ages and from different neighborhoods, we talked about what ails us women who live here. Our colleague Silvia to lead a workshop on Body Territory.

"We women are territory, half of the territory [because we are women, the other half men] What would happen if half of the territory falls? Our body has no substitute, we women are always thinking about others and until the end we think about ourselves. We must look at our bodies as women, because our contribution in the community starts from there, even if it seems to be very little, this is what makes our world work." 

We realized that the Mixtequilla has changed a lot, that its natural environment, its animals, its trees, have all been plundered, mistreated, but that we care about taking care of them. Unity has been lost and we only get together for traditional parties, but we no longer trust each other. 

"When there’s violence in the village it reaches other places, inside and outside our homes. All communities should have the right to walk safely. What spaces are denied to us? For a long time we have been plundered for being women and yet we still have dreams. We need to recover community histories and recreate them, take up the old. To walk valuing first my life in the community. We have a genuine concern for the river, the hill, the contamination, that is why we have to come together in accordance with life." Thus, affirmed Silvia after listening to the list of everything we love and don't love about the town. 

This experience was a very important listening space, because we talked about common concerns where we are going to explore more, we need women to be able to have autonomy, to recover our voices. As our colleague Sara said: "In order to take care of our people, we must not minimize others' problems and pretend not to see. We have to help the other one who has been in a complicated life situation."

Thank you very much for helping us to open a new space for us. It is from small encounters that big changes begin.