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 History Mayan women lived in harmony with their male counterparts, and although men did more of the hard labor and competed in the violent games, women were not nearly as restricted as the Spanish women who came and populated their country. When the Spanish came, they positioned themselves as the upper class. Upper class Spanish women lived pampered lives, but really had no control of them. The Mayan men and women were often forced off their land and into basic slavery. Recent history In 1958, the internal tensions in Guatemala erupted into a brutal civil war that only became completely resolved in 1996. While the civil war was not directly related to women, it had a deep impact upon many, especially in rural areas. Men who did not join the military were often forced to do hard labor for it instead. This left the women to not only do their traditional job of taking care of the house and children, but also to make what money was needed and to work in the fields. Many women had to ask permission to leave their villages to find work elsewhere. Masses of families moved from their villages in the mountains, where much of the war was taking place, to the large cities. Women in the cities had to find jobs, and had to accept miserable pay and harsh conditions as domestic servants to the rich or as workers in maquila factories (sweat shops). Often they would work for 15 hours per day with almost no pay. They could not form unions because they would either be fired or considered rebels. Women also lived in the constant fear that they would be abused or killed or that their loved ones would disappear as many already had. In 1984, Maria Emilia Garcia and other women whose loved ones had disappeared joined forces to create GAM (Grupo de Apoyo Mutuo - Mutual Support Group). They brought attention to the disappearances in Guatemala and tried to get the government to help find the bodies of the disappeared. They also gave help, medical aid, and educated women and men who came to them. GAM became one of the most influential human’s rights organizations in Guatemala. Other women also spoke out to stop the injustices. In 1992, Rigoberta Menchu won the Nobel Peace Prize for speaking out to help the indigenous people. The civil war finally came to a close in 1996, but many women who worked in horrible conditions during the war had no choice but to continue: many of their villages were destroyed and they had no place to go to make a living. Amnesty International and other humans rights groups sent Guatemala a series of requests that would help the poor and war victims of the country. However, in 1998, Amnesty International reported that not much progress had been made. The government had instituted a program to council rape victims and it had legalized the formation of unions, but not much else had been done. Present Politics Women in Guatemala earned the right to vote in 1945, but no woman was elected to national public office until 1954. In 1993, women were still underrepresented, being only about 5% of the government. Many women are taking action and speaking out against the injustices done to them and their families and societies during the civil war. Organizations such as GAM and the center for Mayan Women Communicators work hard to advance the rights and voices of women and to right past wrongs. Domestic / Social Women in the Guatemalan highlands handle domestic work, but they often have to work beside their husbands on coffee plantations or other jobs. Women must maintain high levels of honor and sexual purity, or they will bring their husbands down. Guatemalan women are hard working, and suffer much from the effects of civil war. Many have been pushed out of their homes, have been kidnapped, raped, or killed, and have had to see their children and husbands disappear. Economic Poorer women, as most of Guatemala’s women are, often work alongside their husbands as migrant workers. Other women work in Maquilla factories, factories where they make clothing or other products for long hours every day and receive very little pay. More educated women often have hard times finding high paying jobs as well. Education As of 1995, an estimated 4.5 million Guatemalans were illiterate, more than half of them women. One reason for this education lack among women is that in the small Mayan villages, if anyone goes to school, usually the men go. In the cities, education is more balanced, but many young girls have to start working in clothing factories to earn much needed money, so they have no chance to get an education. All over the country, however, more and more people, especially women are making an effort to go to school. |
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