Inter Pares and PCS in Guatemala

Refugee woman

During the latter years of the armed conflict, Inter Pares and PCS worked with refugee organizations in camps in southern Mexico. In particular, we supported the development of refugee women's organizations, which women formed in order to ensure their access to services and their inclusion in political negotiations for a safe and dignified return to Guatemala. After their return to Guatemala, refugee women were confronted with new challenges. The material conditions upon return were poor, and women belonging to refugee organizations were geographically dispersed across rural areas. They also suffered a backlash from some men in their communities, who believed that there was no longer a need for women's organizations, and that a woman's place was within the home.

"Land, life, and dignity for rural women," campaign poster of The Alliance of Rural Women

In the decade since the accords were signed, Inter Pares supported returnee and rural women's organizations in their struggles to rebuild their communities, to highlight ongoing militarized structures of power in Guatemala, and to be recognized as political actors and leaders. Many of these women have now formed The Alliance of Rural Women to advocate for their concerns. Today, Inter Pares is supporting civil society organizations in the search for truth, justice, and reparations from crimes committed during the war, including the systematic use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. Inter Pares and PCS are also increasingly focused on promoting and protecting the human rights of migrants, whose movement has only intensified with economic globalization. Their safety, especially women's safety and security, is endangered by the increasing securitization of the Mexican-Guatemalan border (as a new frontier between Central America and the U.S., using Mexico as a buffer) and by people looking to take advantage of their vulnerability.