Along with the loss of land and resources, many Indigenous people around the world have experienced — and continue to experience — the destruction of their culture and languages.
Most Indigenous women’s experiences do not feature in official histories, so it is important to register their voices now, from the perspective of their lens as Indigenous women. It is unusual for us to use this powerful structure – textual expression – to tell our experience.
Nonetheless, many of us now consider that adopting this type of powerful gear is necessary in order to clarify our quotidian lifestyle and testimony, and from there, to build our own speech.
Above all, we hope to translate this into our own political practice, adopting a gendered perspective while retaining cultural characteristics.
Indigenous people must be protected from discrimination, intimidation, reprisal, and violence by implementing effective protective mechanisms, reducing impunity for abuse and attacks on them, and guaranteeing that indigenous people can exercise all of their human rights.
There is a need to prosecute, investigate, and prevent violence against Indigenous women from occurring again.
The gendered effects of those violations become visible when indigenous women lose traditional livelihoods such as food gathering, agricultural production, and herding, among others, while compensation and jobs following land seizure disproportionately benefit male members of indigenous communities.
Loss of land and marginalization of women might expose them to abuse and violence, including sexual violence, exploitation, and trafficking. Furthermore, the collateral repercussions of land rights breaches, such as loss of livelihood and ill health, frequently disproportionately affect women in their roles as carers and protectors of the local ecosystem.”
As a result of having to fight for their own survival, culture, and livelihoods, as well as battling increased gender inequality and gender-based violence, Indigenous WHRDs are frequently found at the forefront of driving community resistance to violations of land, environmental, and collective rights.
As leaders in these struggles, they become objects of stigma, threats, physical attacks (including gender-based and sexual abuse), and criminalization.
