CHAPTER 4 B. Manifestations of Violence against Indigenous Women
87. The Commission has received information in public hearings, expert meetings, country visits and questionnaires, among other methods, confirming that violence against indigenous women is perpetrated by State and non-state actors, and by indigenous and non-indigenous individuals in various contexts. Violence is often perpetrated against indigenous women during armed conflicts; the implementation of development, investment, and extractive projects; the militarization of their territories; situations of deprivation of liberty; within the family or domestic sphere; and in connection with their involvement in the defense of their human rights. In this section, the report will describe some of the different contexts in which violence is perpetrated against indigenous women, reflecting on the perpetrators, victims, and forms of violence in each context.
1. Violence in the context of armed conflict
88. The IACHR reiterates that armed conflicts increase the vulnerability of marginalized people and groups to human rights violations, creating scenarios for indigenous women to be disproportionately targeted by State and non-state armed actors. The Commission has noted that, during an armed conflict, “all circumstances that have historically exposed women to discrimination and to receive an inferior treatment” are exacerbated, and “exploited and manipulated by the actors of the armed conflict in their struggle to control territory and economic resources.”186
89. Numerous types of violence have been used against indigenous women in the context of the armed conflicts that have taken place in the Americas, including acts of sexual violence, sexual slavery, murders, and disappearances. These acts of violence not only constitute violations of the rights to life and personal integrity of indigenous women, but also jeopardize
their physical and cultural survival.187 Examples from Guatemala, Colombia, Peru and El Salvador will be discussed in this section to exemplify the multiple forms of discrimination and violence suffered by indigenous women during armed conflicts.
90. The Commission notes that indigenous Mayan women were “specifically targeted by members of the military during the armed conflict in Guatemala,” 188 and constituted “approximately a quarter of the direct victims of human rights violations and acts of violence.”189 The Commission for Historical Clarification stated that the indigenous Mayan peoples were targeted for “extermination en masse,” including their women, children and elderly.190 The tactics used were of the most egregious cruelty and of the “most outrageous brutality,” 191 atrocities ranging from rape, torture, amputations, eviscerations, massacres, scorched earth operations, to the opening of the wombs of pregnant women. 192 It was observed that “the loathing and debasement of indigenous women in military parlance during the armed confrontation reached such extremes that women came to be regarded as meat.”193
91. The majority of the rape victims during the armed conflict in Guatemala were indigenous Mayan women.194 These acts of violence were perpetrated in the context of a broader campaign to destroy the culture and identity of the Mayan people, involving the destruction of sacred places, cultural symbols and ceremonial centers, repression of indigenous language, culture and dress, and the brutal killing of elders, with the aim of disrupting their social order and way of life.195 The Commission on Truth and Reconciliation of Guatemala concluded that these acts – committed with the intent to destroy the Mayan people of Guatemala in whole or in part – constituted a crime of genocide.196 It should also be noted that quite recently, in the Sepur Zarco case, national courts in Guatemala have found the sexual slavery of indigenous women during the conflict to constitute a crime against humanity.197
92. As indicated earlier, the Inter-American Court has addressed the massacre of indigenous Mayan peoples in the cases of Plan de Sánchez Massacre, Massacre of Río Negro and “Las Dos Erres” Massacre, where the State of Guatemala was held internationally responsible for the grave human rights violations committed by members of the armed forces against Mayan communities.198 The specific effects suffered by the indigenous women because of these human rights violations were underscored by the Court when determining the responsibility of the State and granting reparations to the victims and their families. 199 As an emblematic case of violence perpetrated against indigenous women in the armed conflict, the Commission also recalls the decision of the Inter-American Court in the case of Tiu Tojín to hold the State of Guatemala internationally responsible for the forced disappearance of María Tiu Tojín and her daughter, found to be perpetrated by members of the military.200
93. In relation to the situation in Colombia, the Commission has observed that indigenous women and their leaders are often victims of violence and discrimination in the armed conflict.201 The troubling information presented in the Commission’s 2014 report on Colombia continues a trend in the country documented in the Commission's previous reports on Colombia in 2006 and 2009, as can be seen in the most recent press releases of the Commission on Colombia.202 Both the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights and the IACHR have documented that these violent acts against indigenous women have been perpetrated by “agents of the State, members of post-demobilization paramilitary groups, and members of the FARC-EP and the National Liberation Army.”203 Indigenous women from Colombia have expressed to the Commission in the past: “We don’t want any more widowed women, more orphans, we want to return to our lands.”204
94. The Commission has found that in Colombia, indigenous women are subjected to sexual enslavement, forced pregnancy, gang-rapes, sexual mutilation, and killings by various actors of the armed conflict.205 Rape and sexual violence against indigenous women are used as weapons of war by armed actors206 to both forcibly displace communities or to erode the communities’ capacity for resistance.207 The Commission recognizes that indigenous women are most exposed to these acts of sexual violence because of the multiple forms of discrimination they face and the vulnerable nature of their territories.208 Indigenous women and their leaders often are the targets of murder and disappearances during armed conflicts. The Commission notes how armed actors use selective murders and disappearances as a war tactic in order to disrupt the cohesion of the community by depriving it of its leaders and to instill fear in the indigenous communities for taking up the causes of the murdered leaders or for opposing any kind of resistance.209
95. The consequences of the violence committed in the context of armed conflict places indigenous communities at grave risk. Given the strategic aim of intimidation and disruption of indigenous communities and the unique role of indigenous women within their communities, the Commission has observed that the sexual violence, murders, and forced disappearances in the armed conflict in Colombia have jeopardized the “physical and cultural existence of indigenous peoples.”210 The Commission considers that the fact that women are the targets of the attacks against these communities further “aggravates the cultural, spiritual and physical equilibrium already in jeopardy” due to the unique role of indigenous women.211
96. The Commission has welcomed the signing of peace accords in Colombia as an indispensable step towards peace, which is a necessary precondition for the full respect of human rights. In this context, the Commission has taken note of positive measures adopted to include the perspectives of women in these processes, but also observes that indigenous women face enormous barriers in having their voices heard. The Commission also notes that, despite the positive measures implemented by the State of Colombia to enforce specialized protocols for the protection of women human rights defenders, indigenous women who organize to defend their rights continue to be the target of high levels of violence and harassment in the country.212 They are crucial actors for the peace process and its follow-up, and it is crucial that they be included and that their voices are heard.
97. The State of Peru also suffered an internal armed conflict between the Peruvian government and illegal armed groups—the Shining Path and Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement—which has had dire consequences on women and indigenous women in particular. The Commission and the Court have processed cases related to the widespread use of sexual violence by Peruvian state agents as a weapon of war and the situation of impunity that existed during the armed conflict in Peru.213 It is worth noting that the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission established that the indigenous population amounted to 75% of the victims during the conflict in Peru.214 The Commission also granted a hearing on the National Reparations Plan in Peru, in which it received information on, among other topics, the situation of indigenous women in Peru who had been and continued to be exposed to sexual violence, and whose marginalization persisted over time because of the lack of a gender perspective in the reparations program. The requesting organizations argued that the reparations program excluded women’s concerns, focused exclusively on financial reparations, and in many ways re-victimized women.215
98. In the decision Massacres of El Mozote and Nearby Places v. El Salvador, the Court found that the State had conducted military operations between December 11 and 13, 1981 in various communities of the northern part of the department of Morazán, leading to massacres, the used of rape as a means of torture, and the setting to fire of homes, possessions and animals; all human rights violations leading to internal displacements.216 The Court found that these acts of sexual violence jeopardized the rights to life, personal integrity, and privacy of the women affected. An investigation was opened into these events, yet it was halted based on the Law of General Amnesty for the Consolidation of Peace, despite the fact that the Court’s final judgment was that the duty to investigate was a non-derogable obligation and amnesties for serious human rights violations were incompatible with the American Convention.
2. Violence in the context of development, investment, and extractive projects
99. The Commission has witnessed a noteworthy growth in the reception of information, individual petitions, and precautionary measures regarding human rights violations committed against indigenous peoples in the context of development, investment, and extractive projects.217 According to the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, “[t]he commodification of land that is inherent in such practices is an assault on indigenous cultures and the importance placed on land.” 218 Forced displacement and migration; ecological degradation or contamination and their impacts on the right to health and culture; disintegration of the networks and social fabric; increased responsibilities; sexual violence and the trafficking of indigenous women and girls; as well as land disputes are some of the most common consequences of the implementation of these projects. 219 It is important to emphasize that indigenous women are disproportionately and especially affected by multiple forms of discrimination and violence in these situations. 220 As a result, the consequences of the implementation of these projects can be experienced by indigenous women as violations of their physical, sexual, spiritual, and cultural integrity.221
100. In this regard, the IACHR has been informed that the implementation of development projects can create and increase indigenous women’s “vulnerability to abuse and violence, such as sexual violence, exploitation and trafficking.”222 Indeed, many of these development projects trigger environmental degradation of their lands and territories as well as forced displacements of indigenous peoples. Indigenous communities, thus deprived of their lands and traditional ways of life and of subsistence, are then forced into poverty. This situation of poverty and vulnerability combined with the arrival of workers and laborers in these remote areas, and in addition to prejudice and discrimination, has led to forced prostitution and trafficking of indigenous women and girls, and all the consequences these practices have on their physical and psychological health, and on their culture.
101. During its working visit to Suriname in 2013, as well as during the hearing on the Human Rights Situation of the Apetina Indigenous Community in Suriname, the Commission was informed of the impacts of gold mining on the livelihood and sustainability of indigenous and tribal communities. Other problems reported were the use of mercury by mining companies and inadequate dumping procedures affecting the quality of the water of these communities and the health of the community members; incidents of forced displacement due to gold mining activities; child labor; and sexual violence perpetrated against women in mining areas. 223 In particular, indigenous women in Suriname have informed the Commission of the presence of high levels of mercury in the water bioaccumulating in the fish that the communities rely on for subsistence, causing health problems in pregnant women and children, who suffer from severe diarrhea and tremors.224
102. The Commission has found that “these projects bring with them an increase in involuntary prostitution of indigenous girls, forced/unwanted pregnancies, STDs, and sexual violence.”225 In the case of Brazil, the IACHR has received information regarding the drastic social and cultural
consequences of mining, and how these activities create conditions favorable for the emergence of prostitution, drug consumption, and domestic and sexual violence.226 During a meeting of experts, indigenous women leaders informed the Commission of cases in which miners from these development projects have kidnapped and raped indigenous girls, who often end up residing in forced prostitution camps or forced into child pornography because of their rejection by their communities due to the stigma associated with such violence.227 As a result of the lack of adequate jobs in the hinterland regions of Guyana, the serious impacts of mining on indigenous life-style, and the fact that their primary occupations do not provide sufficiently to cover their needs and those of their children, the Commission was also informed that indigenous women –who bear the socially defined role of care-givers, wives, mothers and grandmothers– were increasingly pushed to resort to prostitution as a means of supporting their families.228
103. In particular, the Commission notes the troubling information it has received concerning acts of sexual violence perpetrated against indigenous women in the context of development mega-projects implemented in Guatemala.229 According to information received during its August 2013 country visit, the implementation of the Inter-Oceanic Canal [Canal Seco Interoceánico] and the highway Franja Trasversal del Norte have led to cases of sexual violence perpetrated by the workers of the companies, which were denounced but remain in impunity.230 The Commission further learned of two more cases in which 12 indigenous women from the San Juan Sacatepéquez Community and 11 indigenous women from the Maya Q’eqchi’ Community of Lote 8, Chacpayla reported acts of sexual violence perpetrated by men belonging to the police, the army and security guards of the companies in the context of development mega-projects; cases which, at the date of approval of the present report, remained in impunity.231
104. The Commission also underscores that indigenous women can be displaced from their territories as a result of development, investment, and extractive projects. The displacement of indigenous women from their ancestral land separates them from the place on which the continuation of their way of life and survival depends, as well as the expression of their cultural and spiritual life.232 The IACHR has established that access to, use and possession of their ancestral land is critical for the exercise of indigenous peoples’ individual and collective human rights.233 Indigenous women leaders present at a meeting of experts described to the Commission how, as part of their special relationship with the land, women are connected to the energy in addition to the objects in nature, illustrating how displacement from their ancestral lands severs the connection between indigenous women and the spiritual energy of their territories.234
105. The presence of third parties in the lands and territories of indigenous peoples often causes indigenous women to lose their traditional livelihood, slowly degrading their social structure and traditional way of life.235 In cases where indigenous men become employed by the companies that implement large-scale projects in their territories, women’s traditional activities have to change in order to compensate for the work previously done by men.236 In other situations, the access to natural resources by indigenous women is limited and they have to find different ways to provide for their families or are forced to migrate to cities in search of employment. Indigenous women have also informed the IACHR of other effects, including increased work and family responsibilities due to the absence of their husbands and the weakening of their communal and family life, among others.237 Indigenous women also reported an increase in family and sexual violence.238
106. Indigenous women are also at an increased risk for health problems associated with environmental contamination when development projects are implemented in their territories.239 The Commission observes that the development projects can contaminate the water supply and affect women’s health, causing such consequences as “high levels of toxins in breast milk, in the blood of the umbilical cord, and in blood serum and fatty tissue, causing infertility, miscarriages, premature births, early menstruation and menopause, cancers of the reproductive system, decreased lactation and the inability to produce healthy children.” 240 For example, the IACHR was informed that in Ecuador’s oil fields “cancer constitutes 32 percent of the deaths, three times more than the national average, affecting mainly women.” 241 Furthermore, there has been an increase in “spontaneous abortions, cancers as well as skin, respiratory system and gastro-intestinal problems, inter alia, among indigenous women due to the storage of toxic waste related to development projects on indigenous lands.242
107. Women are also affected in their child-rearing roles by high rates of infant mortality, birth defects and juvenile illnesses due to water contamination and accidents related to petroleum.243 The United Nations has reported how pesticides and chemical fertilizers used by cultivation projects have destroyed the land and eco-system to such an extent that it leaves no choice for indigenous communities but to relocate. 244 The Commission has reiterated its concern over indigenous peoples’ rights to health and to a healthy environment in the context of mining exploitation, and has stated that “[t]he impacts of the presence of heavy metals in the bodies of human beings may be irreparable […] For this reason, the IACHR believes that it is necessary for States to take measures that will allow for the repair of territories degraded and contaminated by the realization of extractive activities, which should include the implementation of special programs that include as one of its core actions attention to the health of indigenous peoples.”245
108. Lastly, the Inter-American Commission notes that the destruction of ancestral lands, natural resources, and sacred sites which can result from the implementation of development projects can prevent indigenous women, as spiritual leaders of their communities, from performing certain rituals and ceremonies, which serve to empower them as keepers of their traditions within their communities.246 This violation of their right to culture and survival, affects them at the spiritual, individual, and collective levels. The Commission also underscores that individual acts of sexual violence and the health-related illnesses suffered by indigenous women threaten their physical integrity, the continuation of their culture and survival, and constitute a form of spiritual violence, harming them individually and collectively.247
3. Violence related to the militarization of indigenous lands
109. The militarization of indigenous territories –which can result from armed conflicts, the implementation of development mega-projects, as well as government security policies – often places members of indigenous communities at grave risk of violence that implicates their rights to life, personal integrity, and their physical and cultural survival.248 Armed groups, including members of organized crime, and State actors, sometimes acting through the aforementioned members of organized crime, mobilize in order to gain control over the natural resources on indigenous lands, exposing indigenous women to the risk of militarized violence.249 In this context, the IACHR has received information that indigenous women have faced sexual violence, trafficking and the types of violence unique to militarization, like landmines, and forced recruitment.
110. Indigenous leaders have reported on the link between development megaprojects and the militarization of indigenous lands in the case of Nicaragua and the construction of the Trans-Oceanic Canal.250 In a hearing on the human rights implications of this project, the Commission received information indicating that the police and the army have conducted excursions into indigenous lands, starting at the beginning of the project.251 Indigenous leaders also reported to the Commission that the zones around the canal, over 50% of which affect the Rama and Criol indigenous peoples and afro-descendant peoples, have become militarized, with even primary schools being occupied as barracks.252 Given the household responsibilities of indigenous women and their roles as spiritual leaders in charge of the continuation of indigenous culture, it is alleged that the militarization of their lands, the environmental damage, as well as the forced displacement and consequent danger of the extinction of the Rama language, will have a disproportionate impact on the indigenous women.253
111. At a regional level, the Commission has also received information indicating that the militarization of indigenous lands in the Americas exposes indigenous women to sexual violence, including rape by the military forces, forced prostitution, and sexual slavery.254 The Commission highlights two cases decided by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights pertaining to the sexual torture of indigenous women in the context of militarization. In the cases of Valentina Rosendo Cantú and Inés Fernández Ortega, regarding two indigenous women who were raped by members of the Mexican military as discussed earlier, the Court specifically took into consideration the military presence in the area surrounding the victim’s home and community in its analysis of the violations in the case.255
112. The Commission has also received information regarding the conflicts taking place in Colombia between third party individuals, armed groups and economic actors that want to lay claim to their traditional indigenous territories, because of their military and economic value, as well as the natural resources they hold.256 The territories are also of military and economic strategic importance, as corridors for troop transport and safe haven, for weapons trafficking, and for the growing, processing, and trafficking of drugs. 257 Indigenous women leaders have informed the Commission that the struggle for control of land has, over the course of the conflict, provoked an increased presence of paramilitaries and organized crime, and an increase in cases of forced prostitution.258 Specifically, the Commission notes its concern over the trafficking and sale of Miskito
children through the Rio Coco and Rio Abajo in Nicaragua.259 Organizations of women, such as the Wanky Tangny, have publically denounced the existence of trafficking networks along the border between Nicaragua and Honduras.260
4. Domestic Violence
113. Indigenous women have informed the Commission through various mechanisms of the problem of the problem of domestic violence. However, most of these incidents are not reported or documented in the Americas. In this regard, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples has indicated the following: “[i]nformation on domestic violence is limited due to underreporting and lack of investment in data collection. Nonetheless, available data suggests that indigenous women are significantly more likely to be victims of domestic violence than nonindigenous women.”261 It also should be noted that the consequences of domestic violence may be felt more acutely by indigenous women, due to lack of access to support services and justice, and to their specific cultural and economic circumstances.262
114. According to information received from indigenous groups, international and civil society organizations, colonization and the strategy of nonindigenous actors to disrupt the social cohesion of indigenous communities have introduced and perpetuated the problem of interpersonal, genderbased violence against indigenous women in their communities.263 The Commission, in addressing the situation of violence against indigenous women in Canada, has already explained that:
The situation of indigenous women in Canada, in turn, exists within a historical context that includes the colonization process and its impacts in the present day. “[T]hrough policies imposed without their consent, indigenous peoples in Canada ‘have had to deal with dispossession of their traditional
territories, disassociation with their traditional roles and responsibilities, disassociation with participation in political and social decisions in their communities, [and] disassociation of their culture and tradition.” One of the many negative impacts of these policies has been on the relationship between men and women in indigenous communities.264
115. Given that indigenous women are considered spiritual leaders and essential for the survival of indigenous communities, indigenous groups emphasize that “many indigenous philosophical, spiritual, cultural, and economic norms historically mediated against gender violence, which was viewed within the tradition as essentially deviant behavior.”265 In fact, the IACHR has indicated that, in some indigenous communities, patriarchy and male dominance were imposed on matriarchal cultures, targeting the power of indigenous women as decision makers, leaders, and equal members of their community […].266 In these cases, the reversal of this traditional view of gender violence has been traced back to colonization and its violations of indigenous peoples’ collective rights. 267 The IACHR understands that domestic violence can also constitute spiritual violence, because it may affect both the women individually, and also entail harm to the collective identity of the communities to which they belong.268
116. The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues has also observed that “cultures of violence, imposed by systemic racism and the infliction of direct, symbolic and structural violence against indigenous peoples through
colonization, are reproduced in countless ways, leading to the implosion and severe dysfunction of many indigenous communities and cultures and subsequent increased rates of violence against women and girls.” 269 Similarly, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous people has noted that many of the potential root causes for domestic violence against indigenous women “are linked to human rights issues specific to indigenous peoples and historical violations of their rights, including a violent family environment; abusive State policies at a young age; financial problems and poverty; unemployment; lack of education; poor physical and mental health; racism-induced stress; denial of rights to self-determination, land and culture, among others, leading to loss of identity and self-esteem; and a breakdown of community kinship systems and Aboriginal law.”270
117. The Commission has also received information on the prevalence of domestic violence suffered by indigenous women in countries including Guatemala, Mexico, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Canada and the United States of America. According to information received by the Public Office for the Defense of Indigenous Women’s rights in Guatemala [“Defensoría de la Mujer Indígena,” or “DEMI”], it is estimated that one third of indigenous women who live with a man suffer from domestic violence, with young women facing a higher rate of violence.271 In the case of Brazil, for example, data from the Office of the Public Defender of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul indicated that reported cases of domestic violence against indigenous women in the region had increased almost 600% between 2010 and 2015, which brought the State to translate the Maia da Penha Law into two indigenous languages, Guarani and Terena272. With respect to Mexico, the civil society organization Equis has indicated that 47% of indigenous women over the age of 15 had suffered some form of violence in their relationships.273 Regarding Bolivia, a twofold higher risk of partner violence has been identified for women who speak a language other than Spanish at
home.274 In Ecuador, women who identify themselves as indigenous report higher levels of partner violence that those who identify themselves as mestizo or white.275 Indigenous women in Canada “are nearly three times as likely to experience violence as non-aboriginal women,” regardless of whether the violence occurs between strangers, acquaintances, or within a spousal relationship.276 With regards to the United States, the Commission has received information indicating that “American Indians and Alaska Natives [women] are 2.5 times as likely to experience violent crimes – and at least 2 times more likely to experience rape or sexual assault crimes – compared to all other races,”277 and that “39 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native women will be subjected to violence by an intimate partner in their lifetimes.”278 The information received indicates that the perpetrators of the different types of violence are for the most part non-Native.279 For example, regarding rape or sexual assault, an average of 67 percent of victims described the offender as non-Native; regarding physical assault, 63 percent of offenders were identified as non-Native.280
5. Violence in the exercise of their economic, social and cultural rights
118. Indigenous women suffer from multiple forms of violence in the exercise of their economic, social and cultural rights. The violation of these rights is inextricably linked to the structural violence that they face, as well as the
intersectional forms of discrimination that have historically affected them. The IACHR has established that many indigenous women live in a situation of poverty as a result of their exclusion from the social and economic benefits available in their countries.281 The many forms of discrimination to which they are subjected – ethnic, racial, socio-economic, and gender-based – raise significant barriers for them to access basic health and education services, food, decent and quality employment, and full participation in public and political life in their countries, thus curtailing their access to their fundamental human rights.282
119. In different regions of the world, there have been “severe historical violations of indigenous women’s rights in relation to sexual and reproductive rights in the context of denial of their right to selfdetermination and cultural autonomy,” which include forced sterilization, the imposition of contraceptive measures absent consent or information, and attempts to coerce indigenous women into having children with nonindigenous men.283 The Commission has received information that, while attempting to access healthcare, indigenous women in numerous Latin American countries have been forcibly sterilized or forced to use contraceptives.284 The IACHR addressed the problem of forced sterilization of an indigenous woman in the case of María Mamérita Mestanza Chávez, in which the State of Peru recognized that the victim, an indigenous woman, was forced to undergo a surgical sterilization that ultimately led to her death.285 In this case, the State and the petitioners reached a friendly settlement agreement.
120. During the hearing on Maternal Health and Reports of Obstetric Violence in Mexico, held during the 150th Period of Sessions, the IACHR was informed that obstetric violence disproportionately affects indigenous women and
women in a situation of poverty.286 The Commission has also been informed of indigenous women in Mexico being denied medical attention when they arrive at hospitals while pregnant, incidents of medical malpractice, and violations of their right to access to information, among others.287 The IACHR received information, in response to the questionnaire, regarding three indigenous women who gave birth on lawns outside of hospitals in Oaxaca, Mexico, after being rejected by hospital staff.288
121. During its recent working visit to Guyana, the Commission received information from several organizations with regards to the serious structural challenges indigenous peoples continue to face, including failure to respect their land rights, the acute poverty that affects people living in rural and remote areas, the failure to integrate an intercultural perspective in the country’s education curriculum and to include indigenous languages, the problems of violence and trafficking of persons that affect indigenous women, and discriminatory social stereotypes that hinder social participation and access to decent work and adequate health care services for indigenous peoples.289
6. Violence against indigenous women human rights defenders and defenders of indigenous women’s rights
122. The Commission also considers it important to take into account the violence and intimidation faced by the human rights defenders who work to advance the human rights of indigenous women, and address their situation of poverty and marginalization. The Commission has underscored that “murders, extrajudicial executions, and forced disappearances committed against human rights defenders are the most serious obstacles to the exercise of promoting and protecting human rights.”290 Across the region,
the Commission has observed a pattern of assaults, threats, and harassment against the personal integrity of human rights defenders.291 In this regard, the IACHR has received troubling information concerning the treatment of human rights defenders in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, the United States and Venezuela, among other countries.292
123. In particular, the human rights organizations working on the defense of indigenous and women’s rights have frequently been targets of attacks on their life.293 On September 18, 2013, after a working visit to Guatemala, former IACHR Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples Dinah Shelton expressed her concern over reports of murder, rape, threats, and acts of harassment directed against indigenous authorities and leaders and human rights defenders in the country.294 In 2014, the Commission reported the murders of Mayan and Asháninka leaders and human rights defenders in Guatemala and Peru.295 The IACHR further takes note of the concluding observations of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in which CERD expressed its concern over the attacks and murders perpetrated against indigenous defenders in Guatemala,296 as well as the serious physical assaults perpetrated against indigenous defenders in Honduras.297 A group of indigenous women experts described to the Commission how indigenous women human rights defenders were being specifically targeted for such attacks, particularly in
the context of armed conflicts.298 In a hearing before the Commission, civil society organizations denounced a differentiated use of violence against indigenous women leaders and defenders, and an increased use of targeted gendered and sexual violence as a strategy to pressure them away from their lands and towards cities, making way for extractive activities.299
124. Women human rights defenders face additional forms of discrimination.300 The IACHR has received information regarding the particularly grave risk to women human rights defenders in the context of armed conflicts, often targeted for harassment, threats and attacks in order for the armed groups to exercise “social control” over territories.301 Moreover, indigenous women human rights defenders are exposed to additional disrespect and harassment by State authorities and armed actors when they work to promote and defend women’s rights, exacerbating the dual discrimination they already face based on their gender and race. 302 Specifically, the Commission has been informed that women human rights defenders face criminalization and prosecution when promoting and defending women’s sexual and reproductive rights, in El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, for example.303 In these cases, they are “accused of undermining moral values or social institutions like the family.”304 In Colombia, women human rights defenders who fought for land restitution on behalf of displaced persons and who were involved in the peace process - such as is the case of some indigenous leaders - have been specific targets of threats and violence.305 The Commission and the Court, in the matter of Ana Teresa Yarce et al v. Colombia, both concluded that there is a context of heightened risk faced by women human rights defenders in Colombia.306 In this regard, it is important to note the important advances supported by the State of Colombia in the implementation of a specialized gender protocol to enhance the protection of women’s rights defenders, indigenous women leaders, and journalists in the context of its national protection mechanism. Despite these efforts, the situation remains of concern to the Commission.307
125. The Commission was also informed in the context of a hearing of the violence with which Dakota State county authorities in the United States repressed women human rights defenders who were protesting peacefully against the Dakota Access Pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, and how the most severe injuries on the frontline had been sustained by women.308 In this sense, the Commission received allegations that a pregnant woman was injured by a rubber bullet, a young girl had lost her eye after being hit, and a young women nearly lost the use of her arm after a device exploded.309
126. The Commission has found that repeated attacks and threats against human rights defenders, along with the criminalization of their efforts, can have a significant chilling effect on their work.310 Additionally, the Commission has received information about the exclusion of indigenous women human rights defenders from leadership roles in Nicaragua with the explanation that they supposedly lack experience in negotiating with the non-indigenous third-party actors.311 The Commission was informed during both of its follow-up hearings on the situation of murdered and missing indigenous women in Canada about a similar situation where none of the indigenous women’s associations were included by the government of Canada to participate in the design of the terms of reference and the implementation of the National Inquiry into the situation of Murdered and Missing Aboriginal Women, consulting only male-led indigenous organizations.312 As such, the constant attacks whether internal to their communities or external aimed at undermining the efforts of human rights defenders of indigenous women’s rights, increases the gravity of the human rights situation of indigenous women, silencing the persons who defend and promote their rights. The combination of this pattern of violence against human rights defenders and the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination faced by indigenous women create conditions that facilitate and perpetuate violence against indigenous women.
7. Violence in urban settings and during displacement and migratory processes
127. Across the Americas, an increasing number of indigenous peoples are compelled by economic need, armed conflict, and the denial of land rights, to migrate from their home communities in rural areas to urban centres.313 They relocate in urban areas to study, find work, and seek out a better life for themselves and their families, but also “to flee conditions of family and social persecution that attempt against their life and their integrity.”314
128. This migration away from their usual safety nets, cultural practices, and their ancestral lands and resources, towards large cities, the labor market and vastly different values and customs make for a difficult transition into the urban setting. This transition is of greater difficulty and is a source of greater vulnerability for indigenous women and girls, who are faced with manifold sources of discrimination, who tend to find themselves in precarious socio-economic situations and have dependents to take care of. As was emphasized by the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples in her report on the situation of indigenous women, “Indigenous women and girls who leave their communities are highly vulnerable to trafficking, which can lead to multiple violations of their human rights, including severe economic and sexual exploitation and sexual violence.”315 A report from the Commissioner in charge of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry of British Columbia, Canada affirmed that “there is no question that the transition from the North to an urban center makes young women particularly vulnerable” and, without support during this transition period, indigenous women face an increased vulnerability to homelessness, drug addiction, extreme poverty, and violence. 316
129. For his part, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment highlighted, in a report of January 2016, that the abuse that women suffered during migration attained such levels that they could amount to torture and ill-treatment: “[m]igrants […] worldwide face grave human rights violations during the migration process. Physical violence, threats and abductions by smugglers, traffickers and organized criminal groups are common. Women and girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence, exploitation and slavery along migration routes. Such abuses can amount to torture and ill-treatment [...].”317
130. In addition, migration or displacement towards cities in itself is perilous for indigenous women. In its report on Access to justice for women victim of sexual violence in Mesoamerica, the IACHR indicated that: “Migrant women suffer different forms of sexual violence such as forced prostitution, trafficking of persons for the purposes of sexual or labor exploitation; […] rape and sexual abuses during transit or permanence in the destination country, […] physical, sexual and psychological violence exercise in the home, and kidnappings.”318 The obstacles that migrant women encounter in attempts to access the justice system are increased by their immigration status when they are fleeing the country where they lived.
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