The XVI Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean took place from 12 to 15 August in Mexico City. Commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of the Fourth United Nations Conference on Women (held in Beijing, China), this space aimed to build agreements between states to achieve a caring society. IM-Defensoras was present to caution that we cannot advance an agenda of care while the political actors and the organizational fabric that make it possible face threats and attacks.
We made a call to include the protection of women human rights defenders and feminist movements in all the debates at the Conference, and to understand care as a social responsibility, an inescapable necessity, and a fundamental right of humanity and Mother Earth that runs counter to the patriarchal, capitalist and racist system that naturalizes care as a gender mandate to exploit women and pushes society and the planet to the brink of extinction.
In this line, we co-convened and presented at the Feminist Forum held prior to the conference. Our sister Lydia Alpízar participated in the panel “Regional Context: The crises we respond to”. Our sisters Aleida Quintana and Marusia López participated in the parallel event “Security that Cares, Peace that Transforms: Feminist proposals from Latin America and the Caribbean.” We also spoke at the parallel event “Women as protagonists in the care for life: Their contribution to territorial development and the environment”, with the participation of our sister Silvia Hernández. Additionally, we convened several meetings with networks and organizations from the continent to analyze the current context and strengthen solidarity, and we held dialogue on “Self-care, Collective Care, and Healing: A political strategy to defend the feminist agenda and the sustainability of movements”, coordinated by our sisters Ana María Hernández and Jelena Dordevic.
In Paragraph 29 of the “Tatelolco Commitment”, signed as an outcome of the XVI Conference, States in the region commit to “Adopt measures to integrate the gender, intersectional and intercultural perspectives into the creation of a safe and enabling environment for the promotion and effective protection of the rights of all women human rights defenders, particularly those working on issues related to the environment, land, territory and natural resources, to prevent all forms of discrimination and violence against these defenders and to combat impunity by adopting measures to ensure that human rights violations committed against them are investigated and ensure their access to justice”.
IM-Defensoras will remain vigilant of the fulfillment of these commitments and we will continue to promote Feminist Holistic Protection as a means of protecting our struggles and building caring communities that transform the current model.
READ OUR POSITION STATEMENT (IN SPANISH)
-
We invite you to listen to the 22 August edition of the radio program “Mujeres cruzando la línea” produced by JASS Mesoamerica and Radio Violeta, dedicated to analyzing the XVI Regional Conference with the participation of our regional co-director Marusia López (in Spanish).