Guatemala hosted the International Meeting “Women and Indigenous Women in Latin America: Moving Toward Parity and Democracy.” During the two-day meeting, around 100 women leaders from Guatemala, Bolivia, Mexico, Chile, and Costa Rica discussed how parity, alternation, and the inclusion of women and indigenous women and peoples has been a historic demand.
In this Central American country, women make up 51% of the total population and 54% of the electoral roll. Despite being the majority, of the 160 deputies in the current legislature, only 32 are women, and only one of them is indigenous.
At the conclusion of the international event, a short video of which can be seen below, Guatemalan women leaders demanded the immediate and effective incorporation of the principles of parity, alternation, and inclusion of indigenous peoples into the Electoral and Political Parties Law. They also demanded an end to political violence against women in all its forms, including racist, symbolic, and digital violence, and emphasized the slogan “Because we are half, we want parity! Without women and indigenous women, there is no democracy!”
