ESTER PEREZ
Defenders of the body territory

In Guatemala, Mayan indigenous women, self-appointed as Defenders of the body-territory, are fighting against the transnational corporations that are plundering the natural resources in the indigenous territory. This defence is framed in the Mayan cosmovision and the close link between nature and people. They think that any aggression in the territory has an impact on their bodies, and they coined the term body-territory.

They've been persecuted, criminalised, they had to leave their homes. Now, most of them are back, and to cope with the different aggressions they faced, they carry out healing processes to shake off the blaming and pain. Healing is a part of the collective political process of trust between women, a moment of sorority where they collectively work to get rid of having been raped, harassed, for having denounced, for not attending to the family under traditional roles...

They've understood all struggles are connected. They are Defenders of the body-territory.

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