PeaceWomen
Sign up to our e-News
Join WILPF Join WILPF

Countries & Regions


Guatemala

Guatemala has a population estimated at 14 million (UN, 2009). The capital is Guatemala City. The main languages are Spanish and more than 20 indigenous languages.

In 1996, Guatemala emerged from a 36-year-long civil war which resulted in more than 200,000 disappearance or deaths, mostly civilians. Violence against women is widespread in Guatemala.

  • Guatemala ratified The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on June 12, 1982
  • Guatemala does not have a National Action Plan on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325)
  • Guatemala had a UN peacekeeping mandate: United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) from January 1997 to May 1997

Sources:BBC; Amnesty International; UNIFEM

View All News

  • April 2, 2013 (ABC News)
    GUATEMALA: Faces Covered, Rape Victims Testify at Trial of Guatemala's Former Military Strongman Indigenous women were systematically gang-raped by Guatemala soldiers and members of paramilitary groups during the country's 36-year civil war, victims testified Tuesday at the trial of the country's U.S.-backed strongman.
  • March 24, 2013 (CBC)
    GUATEMALA: Guatemalan Women Sue Canadian Mining Company for Rape On Wednesday March 20, Rios Montt, the former president of Guatemala, went on trial for genocide and crimes against humanity in Guatemala City. It is the first time ever, anywhere in the world, that a country has prosecuted an ex-head of state for genocide.
  • January 22, 2013 (Independent Wone's Forum)
    GUATEMALA: Five Murdered Women the Latest Victims of Guatemala's War on Women Last week, 35-year-old Carmen Virginia Tuez Franco was found murdered in Guatemala City alongside her niece Silvia Matilde Gaitan Franco. Murders in Guatemala are among the most frequent in the world, but the nation was shocked when Carmen's two daughter's bodies were found on the outskirts of town. Carmen's daughters, Rosiaro and Andy, were only six and eleven years of age
  • November 29, 2012 (Guatemala Times)
    GUATEMALA:Women Human Rights Defenders: Activism's Front-Line The first time I heard the term Women Human Rights Defender (WHRD) it was a bit of revelation to me. It was at an international conference held by the Association for Women in Development (AWID) on women transforming economic power. A group of women from across the globe were gathered in a workshop convened by Jenni Williams of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WoZA) to discuss strategies to protect themselves from state violence.
  • October 19, 2012 (VOXXI)
    GUATEMALA: Sexual Slavery Wounds Persist in Guatemala Fifteen brave Guatemalan women from the indigenous q'eqchí people testified before the High Risk Court in Guatemala City on Sept. 24-28, as part of the first criminal trial for sexual slavery and rape during the armed conflict.

View All Resources


View All Initiatives


View All Organizations


Download
Close

Sources

BBC Countries Profiles

Amnesty International

United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

 

PeaceWomen.org is a project of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, United Nations Office.
777 UN Plaza, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10017, USA
Join Us on Facebook and Twitter

Fair Use Notice: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. PeaceWomen.org distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107.