Council for a Community of Democracies

Norma Cruz Speaks on Guatemalan Human Rights
Hosted by the Guatemalan Human Rights Commission at the Elliot School
March 4, 2010

Norma Cruz is the Co-founder and Director of Survivor's Foundation in Guatemala City and received the "Women of Courage" award from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She gave a presentation on March 4 at the Elliot School examining the current violence and femicide that runs rampant in Guatemala. There are annually over 700 murders of women in Guatemala, approximately two per day. The women are attacked, according to Cruz, exclusively because of their gender. Of those attacks, 58% are domestic violence committed in the privacy of their home. The other 42% of deaths occur in public areas.

Perpetrators

There are different types of perpetrators. First, there are the former soldiers from Guatemala’s 36 years of war. After the peace accords were signed in 1996, the soldiers were expected to return to their home as civilians. These men had been killers and torturers that maintained their aggression when they returned to society. According to Cruz, women were viewed as tools to produce the next generation of fighters. Women were then murdered to weaken enemy forces.

Narcotrafficers are also a pervasive threat. The illicit narcotics and clandestine groups are returning from Mexico into Guatemala. They are bringing weapons, drugs and a host of detrimental material and practices into the area.

One of the most serious threats to women is the presence of youth gangs that control much of Guatemala. According to a recent estimate cited by Cruz, there are 100,000 members of youth gangs in just the capital, Guatemala City. There are initiation rituals that directly target women. For example, groups will gang rape women sometimes dozens of men against one victim. Some groups annually dismember women.

Culture

Cruz blames many of the problems women face in Guatemala on the culture created during the civil war. As mentioned previously, women were seen as a tool to produce new soldiers. Another vestige from the civil war is Guatemalan acceptance of death and murder all around them. Cruz said it was like a “show” or “spectacle” to see who was killed in town. People would see bodies walking to work or witness a murder while riding the bus. Pervasive acceptance has led to many women to not speak out against the violence.

The patriarchal culture, called “Machismo,” is also an exacerbating factor. Cruz says that women have progressed in public society. They now serve as academics and professionals. However, men force wives into traditional roles when at home. Women must carry out both professional duties and also private matters of the family, without adequate support from the husband.

Judicial System

Attacks currently have a dismal 98% impunity rate for the offenders. Cruz explains that the judicial system does not have the capacity to investigate and bring to trial perpetrators of femicide. The few people who do investigate are poorly equipped and trained. Sometimes the investigators do not even have enough gas to drive to a crime scene. The forensic investigators do not have adequate training to determine the cause of death or to find substantive evidence. The Survivor’s Foundation has hired a forensic investigator as part of their staff to compensate for state inadequacies. Their efforts have led to many exhumations and retrials.

Solutions

Cruz credits greater coordination between the Ministry of Justice, police and civil society for recent improvements. She firmly stated that the state institutional capacity must be strengthened. There should simultaneously be an effort to weed out corruption in government, which can happen with pressure from the international community. She said it is not enough for the United States to have relations with Guatemala’s government; the relationship should be contingent on the protection of victims and human rights.

Guatemalans should create a culture of solidarity for victimized women and especially the orphaned children that are often demonized and ridiculed. The 700 women killed annually leave behind over 2,000 orphans that do not receive any state care.

The resources for investigating and prosecuting crimes against women must be increased. Guatemala suffers similarly to other developing nations that they do not have the institutional capacity to deter crime. Protection and trial representation is currently provided by groups like the Survivors Foundation, but needs to be implemented on a national scale.

Cruz recognized that these efforts will be difficult, but she remains hopeful. Her organization has never lost a case in court and says that every victory chips away at the abuse of women in Guatemala.

For more information on Norma Cruz and her organization, Survivor’s Foundation, click here (Spanish only).