By Katherine Zavala, IDEX Regional Director, Latin America
“You represent the symbol of the struggle that is giving hope to this world, showing that resistance is a valid strategy. We cannot surrender everything to fear. The struggle is our alternative and that is why, we’re all in this together.
“Many women know their history, and many women know how to confront the same situation. You are the strength. You won’t ever go on your knees, and we will all resist together.”
~Graça Samo, World March of Women International Coordinator, in appreciation of the testimony of Maxima Acuña, an indigenous woman and natural resources defender from Cajamarca, Peru
This past year, IDEX was thrilled to support World March of Women, a global feminist movement connecting grassroots groups and organizations working to eliminate the root causes of poverty and violence against women.
From October 23rd to 25th, activists from Brazil, Canada, Chile, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, the US, and Venezuela met in Cajamarca, Peru to participate in the Fourth Regional Gathering, from which the powerful quote above was spoken.
World March of Women, Fourth Regional Gathering in Cajamarca, Peru.
Country by country, World March of Women-Americas analyzed the threats to women’s rights work, as well as the range of models that women were building to overcome them. This three-day discussion enabled a mapping of common struggles across nations in the Americas, in particular, issues dealing with the defense of women’s bodies, land and territory.
Some of the key highlights from this gathering were:
- Organizing the Fourth Gathering in Cajamarca was strategic and timely to support local human rights and environmental activists. Time was deliberately given to learn and reflect on what is happening in Cajamarca regarding the defense of natural resources by women human rights defenders and the existing political landscape of Peru.
- Mapping each country’s context in terms of challenges and opportunities builds each participant’s analysis and helps find common struggles where joint actions can be made for attention and solidarity.
The gathering led to joint decisions and next steps, such as the following:
- To build political education curricula for all of the regions of the World March of Women, starting with the Americas Region:
- To strengthen its commitment to the Agroecology Working Group that is within the FAO process;
- To deepen the region’s knowledge around abortion laws to create a continental campaign to defend women’s bodies; and
- To link women’s rights with environmental justice within the COP21 process and beyond.
Graça Samo ended her tribute to Maxima Acuña, with:
“Our natural resources and land are the reason to be in this world. We bring you our energies and we join them together with yours.”
World March of Women activists stage a demonstration for women’s rights.