Latin America Bureau Books- Women Resisting Violence

Women Resisting Violence is an illuminating and powerful account of the ways in which women and girls encounter violence and the bold initiatives they are developing to respond to it. Across Latin America, the number of femicides has grown at an alarming rate, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Alongside has come a dramatic increase in domestic violence; loud demands over domestic workers’ rights; increased suffering from and fierce resistance to land-grabbing; increased urban violence; violent discrimination against migrants; and the relentless growth of state control over women’s reproductive rights. In Women Resisting Violence, case studies and interviews with women leaders from Latin America highlight the multiple and intersecting forms of gendered violence – where race, ethnicity, skin colour, economic status, and other markers combine to identify, discriminate against, and target women. Collecting a chain of voices, we focus on these women’s inspirational strategies for transforming their communities and influencing international laws. Their testimonies underline the importance of culture, commemoration, and the arts in consolidating and amplifying active resistance. Women’s voices are loud and clear: gendered and intersectional violence is rampant in Latin America. But women are pushing back. As the Mexican proverb boldly states, '‘They wanted to bury us, but they didn’t know we were seeds.’