Organzations and Women''s Groups we'll be meeting with

These are a few of the groups and individuals we will be meeting with during our trip:

STITCH, Miriam Cardona, women workers and violence in the workplace. http://www.stitchonline.org/

Gladys Monterroso, lawyer, law professor, political party secretary, wife of Procurador, victim of March 25, 2009 kidnapping/torture http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/1871

Norma Cruz, co-founder and director of the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Survivors Foundation

The Myrna Mack Foundation was created by Helen Mack in 1993, following the assassination of her sister, Myrna, an anthropologist who was killed by Guatemala's secret service for helping to investigate the forced displacement of indigenous communities. This highly respected human rights foundation works to end impunity in Guatemala.

CAIMU at Nuevas Horizontes - visit to CAIM (Center for Integrated Support for Women, Victims of Domestic Violence) state sponsored shelters

Meeting with ACAM Midwifery Project - The community served by this project is the mostly Maya indigenous community in the cantons surrounding Concepción Chiquirichapa

Meeting at US Embassy

7 days to go

In Guatemala, as in other regions such as Cuiudad Juarez, Mexico, and South Africa, women have been targeted simply for being women. This pattern of violence is called femicide to differentiate it from other homicide cases. Femicide is defined as the murder of a woman because of her gender. Femicide is often carried out with shocking brutality; many victims show signs of torture and mutilation. The Guatemalan government, by omission, is complicit in the terror.

What can we expect? How can we as a team of Americans be helpful? Much remains to be seen. Perhaps we will come to a deeper understanding of the word solidarity which is defined as the union of interests or purposes or sympathies among members of a group.

Guatemala Human Rights Commission

For more information visit: http://www.ghrc-usa.org

Introduction to the trip

Since 2000, over 5500 Guatemalan women have been brutally murdered. These gender-based crimes have been characterized as "femicide" because they target females. 98 % of the crimes go unpunished.

We will travel to Guatemala to understand the economic, social and political issues surrounding femicide. We'll learn how society is affected and reacts to the murders. We'll participate in activism and solidarity, reaching out to women's organizations working on this most difficult issue.

A team of twelve of us will participate in this Guatemala Human Rights Delegation (GHRD). As part of our commitment we intend to share what we are learning to raise awareness and increase support for human rights in Guatemala. Follow our experience starting August 1, 2009

Welcome to Our Blog

This blog will follow our trip to Guatemala as part of the Guatemala Human Rights Delegation: "Women's Right to Live" Join us for the experience.