Background

 

For 36 years, Guatemala suffered through an internal armed conflict in which at least 200,000 people were "disappeared" or killed. State-sponsored violence was widespread, entire villages were burned and razed, and rape was commonly used as a weapon of war against women. Numerous investigations have concluded that the vast majority of these human rights violations were conducted by members of the Guatemalan Army or intelligence services.

 

Today, a decade after the conflict’s resolution, many of those responsible have escaped prosecution and now work with the police or private security forces. Perhaps it is no wonder that violence against women continues unabated, and that the perpetrators are virtually never brought to justice.

 

Human rights groups have documented a sharp increase in the rate of "femicides" or killings of women in Guatemala since the beginning of 2000. As of August 2006, 2,300 Guatemalan women had been murdered, and only 17 cases had been resolved, including both convictions and exonerations. In fact, so few convictions have been handed down that there is almost complete impunity for those who murder women in Guatemala. Investigators mishandle crime scenes and officials blame the victims themselves, often deciding that their murders are not worth investigating because they are deemed to be "nobodies."

 

Advocacy Update

Thank you to all of you who joined SPARK and the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS) to condemn the institutional acceptance of violence again women in Guatemala.

We are very pleased to report that on Tuesday, May 1st the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.Res. 100, a bipartisan resolution condemning the ongoing abductions and murders of women and girls in Guatemala, and urging the government of Guatemala to investigate the killings of women, prosecute those responsible, and eliminate the tolerance of violence against women. H.Res. 100 passed with 100 cosponsors, so thank you to all of you who wrote to your representatives in Congress asking them to support this important piece of legislation!

Also on May 1st, a similar resolution was introduced in the Senate by Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM). S.Res. 178 expresses the sympathy of the Senate to the families of women and girls murdered in Guatemala, and encourages the United States to work with Guatemala to bring an end to these crimes. Please contact our California Senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, and ask them to cosponsor S.Res. 178! 

CA Senators Contact Information

Contact Senator Boxer via email or by calling her San Francisco office at (415) 403-0100, or her Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3553.  Contact Senator Feinstein via email or by calling her San Francisco office at (415) 393-0707, or her Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841.