Enduring Violence. Cecilia Menjívar
Enduring Violence
Ladina Women's Lives in Guatemala
Cecilia Menjívar
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
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© 2011 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Menjívar, Cecilia
Enduring violence: Ladina women's lives in
Guatemala / Cecilia Menjívar.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-520-26766-4 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-520-26767-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
I. Women—Guatemala—Social conditions.
2. Women—Violence against—Guatemala.
3. Ladino (Latin American people)—Violence
against—Guatemala. 4. Violence—Guatemala.
I. Title.
HQ1477.M46 2011
305.48'969420972814—dc22 2010037628
Manufactured in the United States of America
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on 50# Enterprise, a 30%
post consumer waste, recycled, de-inked fiber and
processed chlorine free. It is acid-free, and meets all
ANSI/NISO (Z 39.48) requirements.
To
P. C. de Ch.P. Ch. vda. de S.J. A. Ch.M. Ch. M.M. A. Ch.In Memoriam
U.N. Declaration on the
Elimination of Violence
against Women
ARTICLE 1:
For the purposes of this Declaration, the term “violence against women” means any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.
ARTICLE 2:
Violence against women shall encompass, but is not limited to the following:
(a) Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family, including battering, sexual abuse of female children in the household, dowry-related violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to women, non-spousal violence and violence related to exploitation;
(b) Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring within the general community, including rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and intimidation at work, in educational institutions and elsewhere, trafficking in women and forced prostitution;
(c) Physical, sexual and psychological violence perpetrated or condoned by the state, wherever it occurs.
ARTICLE 3:
Women are entitled to the equal enjoyment and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field. These rights include, inter alia:
(a) The right to life;
(b) The right to equality;
(c) The right to liberty and security of person;
(d) The right to equal protection under the law;
(e) The right to be free from all forms of discrimination;
(f) The right to the highest standard attainable of physical and mental health;
(g) The right to just and favourable conditions of work;
(h) The right not to be subjected to torture, or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
United Nations, General Assembly, 85th plenary meeting,
20 December 1993; A/RES/48/104http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/48/a48r104.htm
Contents
1. Approaching Violence in Eastern Guatemala
2. A Framework for Examining Violence
3. Corporeal Dimensions of Gender Violence: Woman's Self and Body
4. Marital Unions and the Normalization of Suffering
5. Children, Motherhood, and the Routinization of Pain and Sacrifice
6. Women's Work: Normalizing and Sustaining Gender Inequality
7. Church, Religion, and Enduring Everyday Violence
Acknowledgments
This project took detours and years to materialize into a book, and over the years the list of people and institutions to whom I am indebted became long. I apologize in advance for any inadvertent omissions.
I offer my most heartfelt gratitude to the women whose lives I depict in this book. Due to issues of confidentiality, only their pseudonyms will be known to others, but they have allowed me to know them by name, to come into their homes, and to learn about their lives, dreams, and joys. In the process I learned lifelong lessons about the human spirit, about kindness, and about resilience, among other