MADRE's Sister Organizations in Mexico

K'inal Antzetik

K'inal Antzetik ("Women's Earth" in Tzeltal) began in 1991 when a group of Indigenous women weavers came together to try to increase their income by pooling their skills and marketing strategies. Since then, K'inal Antzetik has expanded from its initial focus on technical support for community cooperatives. K'inal Antzetik's work now includes trainings on sexual health and reproductive rights, education and literacy programs and leadership development for women.

The Chiapas chapter of K'inal Antzetik works specifically with Indigenous women, supporting them as they organize to defend their communities and win access to health care, political participation and justice for violations committed by the Mexican army and paramilitary forces.

Economic autonomy and sustainability

One of K'inal Antzetik's largest projects is a weaving cooperative in San Cristobal, Chiapas. Formed in 1996 in the face of rising military violence, sharply declining wages, rising costs of living and intensifying economic and political exploitation of Indigenous Peoples, the Jolom Mayaetik (Mayan weavers, in Tzeltal) weaving cooperative focuses on economic and political autonomy for Indigenous women. The cooperative provides its 350 members with economic and educational opportunities as part of creating local alternatives to the dominant neo-liberal economic model.

K'inal Antzetik also runs several other cooperatives, including sewing, shoe-making and carpentry collectives. And, as part of a food-security initiative called Seeds of Hope, K'inal is helping women manage and operate a bakery. In the words of one K'inal member: "Our aim is to develop economic autonomy at the community level and improve women's ability to feed their families."

Food Security

Through Seeds of Hope, K'inal aims to provide a reliable source of food, as well as income, for local families. The project includes distributing animals and vegetable seeds to families in the community and providing trainings on animal management, seed cultivation and organic gardening.

Women's Health and Human Rights

As one member stressed, "demanding rights for Indigenous Peoples in Chiapas includes fighting for the rights of Indigenous women within our communities." K'inal offers ongoing workshops on women's health and reproductive rights. Recently, K'inal completed a Report on Maternal Mortality in Indigenous communities, addressing issues of pregnancy and childbirth and compiling data and testimonies from women in Chiapas.

Human Rights Advocacy

K'inal Antzetik also plays a critical role in the network of civil society organizations demanding equitable distribution of resources and respect for the collective rights of Indigenous Peoples in Mexico.

ELIGE

ELIGE is a youth-led organization in Mexico City that focuses on sexual rights and reproductive rights. Created in 1996, ELIGE works with young people to promote and defend their sexual rights and reproductive rights within a human rights framework, and guarantee that they are able to exercise the full range of those rights.

In 2001, ELIGE began a campaign called Stop the Impunity: Not One More Death to address the crisis of the unsolved murders of over 300 women factory workers in Juarez and Chihuahua, Mexico. Since 1993, the failure of the Mexican authorities to solve killings has sent a signal that poor women can be abused and murdered with impunity. Through the Stop the Impunity campaign, the youth of Elige are sending their own signal to the authorities by demanding justice for the women of Juarez and Chihuahua.

In addition to conducting national and international public education on the Juarez murders, ELIGE was part of a commission that lobbied for a visit from the Special Rapporteur of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to Mexico to investigate and report back to the Commission about the situation in Juarez. ELIGE is currently putting pressure on the Mexican government to follow up on the cases and make violence against women in Juarez a national priority.