Women’s International Day

The 8 of March is an important day for me. It is the 103^rd International Women’s Day. I am sure lots of people would shrug and question why we need a day for women. For me the answer is obvious. We have come a long way since this day was established in 1911 but there is still a way to go before women and men are treated as equals. I feel fortunate that I have been able to grow up in a society that promotes gender equality and women’s empowerment as a priority. But even in the UK there is recognition that more could be done. This isn’t about blaming or undermining men, but understanding that we all have potential and that realizing that potential can only help society as a whole. That doesn’t mean it is easy. It is often about challenging traditional and cultural norms, which isn’t a comfortable process.

At the Embassy we remain active on promoting equality. To give a couple of examples we have supported: a project aimed at breaking down stigmas that survivors of sexual violence suffer, through the use of participatory theater and artistic workshops in 3 regions across Guatemala;  an initiative aimed at preventing violence against women in the department of Quetzaltenango; and in Honduras we also co-financed a project to develop the leaderships skills of young Lenca women in Intibucà, which you can read more about here. We have also recently had our own Embassy success story, with Security and Justice Officer, Sara del Cid, being named as one of Siglo 21’s Women of the Year.

Having said this, as in many countries, serious challenges still remain for Women’s Rights and gender equality in Guatemala. To explain more about some of these we have invited the British NGO Health Poverty Action, who has been working on these issues in Guatemala for the last 19 years, to share their thoughts:

“Women in Guatemala face discrimination in various aspects of their social and family life. For indigenous women these challenges are often multiplied. In order to tackle this, women’s participation in decision-making processes is key, yet only 7 out of the 33 municipal mayors elected in 2011 were women.  Talking to mothers in the community, we find that it is often her partner who decides whether or not she uses contraception; whether or not she takes prenatal supplements; whether or not she goes to a health facility to have her baby.

Guatemala’s legal framework enshrines gender equality and is strong in its consideration of violence against women, by including psychological and verbal aggression as crimes. Yet Health Poverty Action’s research shows that 80% of adult women have suffered some form of violence: 40% have received threats from men: and 17% of adult women have been raped – most of them by their partner. We need to change attitudes and expectations, of women as well as men. We carried out a survey among young people to ask what kind of vocational training they wanted; one young woman’s response was to learn how to make tortillas better. This was as far as her dreams of a career extended.

We have an enormous untapped resource, and that is traditional culture and worldview. Rather than seeing traditional culture as a barrier to development, we should look to its values and principles, in which the Maya speak of the need for complements, balance and equal respect between male and female, men and women. HPA’s Maya Mothers and Children project, funded by the UK’s Big Lottery Fund, aims to put women and the centre of decision-making about maternal health services. A launch event in Quetzaltenango last week helped raise the visibility of women, and the struggle they face to achieve their rights.

On this International Women’s Day, it’s good to recall that there are also hopeful signs of change. In education, in particular, the gap between boys’ and girls’ enrolment has fallen dramatically. Women’s participation in organizations, both urban and rural, has increased. Now our task is to translate these gains into women’s involvement as protagonists in shaping their future.”