MADRE Statements

Mexico: Meso American Meeting of Women Activists for Human Rights in Oaxaca, Mexico, 23 - 25 April 2010

Posted on: Thursday, May 20, 2010

Keywords: Human Rights Advocacy, Women Human Rights Defenders

An update from the Women Human Rights Defenders.

The Meso American Meeting of Women Activists for Human Rights in Oaxaca, Mexico on 23 - 25 April 2010 was a meeting among women, lesbian and trans activists from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and representatives of regional and international women’s organisations to strategise towards developing a regional collaboration to address and prevent violence against women human rights defenders in Mexico and Central America.

The meeting was attended by over 60 participants, including Coalition members, who are feminists and activists that work across a range of human and social rights, including the full enjoyment of sexual and reproductive rights. The participants share a common threat from state authorities given the prolonged conflict and prevailing militarization and political repression in the region. Powerful non-state actors such as organized crime, transnational corporations, religious institutions, and paramilitary groups, among others, have also increased their ability to interfere and control communities, resulting in increased violence against defenders of women’s rights. The participants issued a statement to articulate their collective demands for the protection of women, lesbian, trans defenders of women and sexual rights:

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