In the global struggle against gendered violence, Latin American women are key changemakers.

A new study on femicide in Brazil shows strong awareness of the reality of gender-based violence — but more needs to be done

A fire in a state-run shelter in Guatemala in 2017 brought together a group of women who have been fighting for justice for the victims ever since in this case. Cathy McIlwaine, Jelke Boesten (King’s College London) and Rebecca Wilson (Latin American Bureau) recall this incident and other two experiences of grassroots work throughout Latin America and the UK in the upcoming podcast series Women Resisting Violence.

Un incendio en un hogar estatal en Guatemala en 2017 reunió a un grupo de mujeres que, desde entonces, han luchado para hacer justicia hacia las víctimas de este caso. Cathy McIlwaine, Jelke Boesten (King’s College London) y Rebecca Wilson (Latin American Bureau) recuerdan este incidente y otras dos experiencias de trabajo comunitario en América Latina y Reino Unido dentro de la serie de podcasts Women Resisting Violence.

As rates of violence against women rose on a global scale over lockdowns, and in many cases, intensified, flaws in our top-down approach to protecting women and girls were laid bare. In response, a team of researchers and gender consultants produced a podcast reflecting on women’s lived experiences and their innovative strategies for addressing intersectional violence against women and girls.

No podcast Women Resisting Violence, produzido em colaboração com pesquisadores do King’s College London, mulheres latino-americanas relatam suas extraordinárias expêriencias ao apoiarem umas ás outras na luta conta a violência de gênero no Brasil, na Guatemala e no Reino Unido.

As the rates and intensity of violence against women dramatically rose globally over lockdown, Gil, a Brazilian woman in London who has suffered domestic violence, tells her story of being denied support from emergency services. Rebecca Wilson and Marilyn Thomson explore the added risk for Latin American women who face violence in London, ahead of their podcast addressing these issues.

Six countries in the region (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, El Salvador and Bolivia) represent 81% of global cases. And though 18 countries in Latin America classify femicide as a crime, 98% of cases still go unprosecuted. This stark situation informs Women Resisting Violence, a 3-part podcast series that celebrates women’s initiatives to combat gender-based violence.

LONDRES (Sputnik) — Mujeres latinoamericanas en el frente de la lucha contra la violencia de género narran sus experiencias en una serie de podcasts producida por la organización británica Latin American Bureau (LAB) y el King's College de la universidad de Londres.

King’s academics, in collaboration with the Latin America Bureau, launch a new three-part podcast series which hears the extraordinary experiences of women addressing and resisting gender-based violence in Brazil, Guatemala and the UK.

'The book can be read by practitioners and professionals working in the VAWG sector, by grassroots activists mobilizing, and by those of us who are part of the Latin American and Caribbean feminist diaspora in the UK, who must be informed about what is happening in our motherlands in order to resist in hope and guarantee that we move towards feminist futures free of gender-based violence. We, Latin American migrant women, are a key part of this struggle.' – Jael de la Luz

In Brazil, women are at huge risk of violence, especially if they are minorised Black, Indigenous, LGBTQ+ women. According to the 2021 Atlas of Violence, one woman is killed every four hours in Brazil, where female homicides were reported as almost double the global average in 2017. However, despite serious institutional neglect, Brazilian women are spearheading effective, culturally-specific initiatives which draw on a range of tools, in order to support each other and reduce gendered violence.

To mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, LAB and King’s College London release the first episode of our new podcast, Women Resisting Violence, where women share their experiences of supporting each other and transforming their communities.