Women currently make up 51 percent of the Guatemalan population, but they are by no means treated like a majority. A total of 2,170 women have been murdered since 2000, and the number of murders have risen steadily during the five-year period. Psychological, physical and sexual violence towards Guatemalan women has only increased within the past few years. Trujillo has urged authorities to investigate and prosecute those responsible for "femicide" in Guatemala.
In addition, she argued that violence was partly due to Guatemala's domestic norms. "We think this violence begins in the domestic establishment. If you are a woman in Guatemala, your natural place is the domestic sphere," she said. "Up until recently, women had to ask permission from their husbands to work outside of the home."
Trujillo said that discrimination towards women is not unique to particular social classes. "All women in all social backgrounds in Guatemala suffer from discrimination," she said. "The greatest form of discrimination displayed is violence towards women." According to Trujillo, many women are beaten by their husbands and are fearful of taking a stand against abuse.
Trujillo explained that women face dangers on a daily basis. "Violence against women has become part of everyday life," she said. "Women are afraid to denounce violence from their husbands, their partners."
Women have been targeted for killings and every day there are more women who are victims of rape and sexual harassment. Most targeted victims fall between the age of 14-35 and a majority are students and homemakers. "The homicides demonstrate hatred towards women. Parts of dead bodies have been found and left in places like trash bags. Finding out who the killers are is not an easy task," said Trujillo.
Trujillo also explained the biases of judges. "The judges do not want to uphold the law because many tend to support the discrimination against women," she said. Consequently, violence tends to go unpunished. Most crimes within Guatemala are not acknowledged and are forgiven by the law, according to Trujillo.
Following a 1993 convention held in Brazil, human rights were beginning to become established within Guatemala. Trujillo discussed the limitations of Guatemala's written laws. "Our penal code from 1973 still has language dated back to the 19th century. Thus, domestic violence, rape and sexual abuse are not considered crimes," she said.
Many rape victims are persuaded into marrying those who have raped them, consequently leading to dropped charges. Trujillo also discussed the difficulty in proving rapes. "In order to make a case against child rapes, the child has to prove that he is 'honest' but this term is so subjective," said Trujillo.
An amendment has been proposed to stop the violence, but up until recently, it has been completely overlooked. A plan was established in 2004 to prevent violence against Guatemalan women. In 2005, however, the Guatemalan government only budgeted $23,000 for the cause.
Trujillo discussed recent actions promoting the cause. "The 'For Women's Right to Live Campaign' is looking for venues to speak to people concerning this devastation in Guatemala," she said. Trujillo discussed the possibility of creating a vigil in front of the Guatemalan embassy in order to honor those who have been murdered. Trujillo also wants to meet with victims' families and give them support.
Trujillo explained the first step towards awareness is to "know that violence is happening to human beings. People can sign petitions to help get the Guatemalan authorities to pay more attention to this." Trujillo's efforts have already caused the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women to visit Guatemala in 2004 to investigate the widespread violence within the country.
The Amherst Juárez Activism Group was responsible for preparing and organizing the lecture. This on-campus organization was originally formed to take action against the femicides in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, but the similar violent situation in Guatemala caught the attention of members of the group. Megan Harlow '09 asked Trujillo to speak at the College and was the main person responsible for the planning.
Harlow explained the lecture's preparation process. "Veteran members of the Juárez Activism Group expressed interest in expanding their efforts to the suffering women of Guatemala," she said. "While researching online, I came across the Guatemala Human Rights Commission, a D.C.-based organization and read that they were bringing Hilda Morales Trujillo on a speaking tour of the Northeast entitled 'For Women's Right to Live' in November." Harlow then contacted the organization and asked if it would be willing to bring Trujillo to the College.
Co-founder of the organization Emily Silberstein '06 explained her original expectations concerning the lecture. "By generating interest in this issue we hope to take our activism beyond campus and to educate more people and help demand justice," she said.
Epiphanie Marquez '06 is the other founder of the organization. "Emily Silberstein and I co-founded the Juárez Activism Group in Nov. 2003," she said. "Since then we have been working to raise awareness on campus and in the Pioneer Valley." Marquez spread awareness by inviting students from the other Five Colleges to the lecture.
Cristina Morales '06, a group member, explained the goal of the lecture. "The situation in Juárez is now, finally getting some media attention. There was a cover story in The New York Times earlier this semester and there's a lot of sympathy for women in Juárez right now," she said. "So our goal with this lecture is basically to raise awareness about this situation in Guatemala and learn what's being done about it."
Felipa Quiroz, a student at Mt. Holyoke College, attended the lecture and shared her reaction to Trujillo's moving words. "It's outrageous that these femicides are happening without the Guatemalan government doing anything," she said.
"We, as individuals, and especially as women have the obligation to spread awareness and promote this cause."
Emily Scheiderer '06, a member of the Juárez group, said that she was pleased with the attendance at the lecture. "I think all the members of the Juárez Activism Group are very happy that people are interested despite the translation barrier," she said. "Considering that there was a translator and that extra time was taken to overcome the language barrier, it's great that so many people came. We're all getting to know the issues and we need a lot of awareness to understand what can be done."
Harlow explained that "this event should at the very least put this problem in the spotlight. Through hosting Hilda Morales, we will have forged connections with her, the Network of Nonviolence Against Women and the Guatemala Human Rights Commission," she said. "We are hoping to send Amherst students on a delegation to Guatemala this spring, but potential plans are still very tentative. If it doesn't work out this year, we'll try for next year."
Trujillo won Amnesty International's 2004 Ambassador of Conscience Award and was also nominated for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts with the non-violence campaign. She currently lectures on human rights and family law at the University of San Carlos and women's rights at the University of Rafael Landívar.