Women who work as public activists, such as human rights defenders, including activists working to protect land and natural resources, face violence, threats, reprisal, and illegal arrests. Such acts are often committed by government authorities and security forces.[8]

In Guatemala, women activists experience at least one attack each day on average, and an estimated eighty-three percent of these activists are land and natural resource defenders.[8] Factors such as foreign investments, typically in mining, have created conflict with native communities fighting to defend their land rights and natural resources. As a result, indigenous women are primary victims of threats and violence.[8] Findings from 2012 to 2014 showed that among female human rights defenders in Central America and Mexico, women defending land from mining operations were the most susceptible to gender violence, including risk of assassination. Guatemala is considered one of the ten most dangerous countries for environmental activists in the world, but accountability for such crimes remains a challenge.[1]

  1. ^ hg-TP-gp, teleSUR /. "Mining in Guatemala Abuses Women's Rights, Activists Say". Retrieved 2016-11-10.