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Peruvian Women Work to End Violence in Coca-Growing Regions
FrontLines - May 2009
By Marcela Cardenas
MEBADANHU, Peru—When
a group of people from the
indigenous community of
Mebadanhu in the Peruvian
Amazon attended a recent
workshop on gender-related
violence, the women remained
silent, giving the appearance of
disinterest in the issues being
presented.
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International Women’s Day parade in Tocache, Peru.
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Then suddenly a woman
stood up. “When men get
drunk,” she said, “they force
women to have sex and often
they also beat us up.”
Immediately, a dozen other
women got up and shared stories
of the same abuse while the men
remained silent—except one
who claimed similar abuse from
women.
The courage to discuss such a
sensitive topic is one sign that
the concerns of women are
finally being brought into the
open. Although they have come
a long way on the road to
empowerment, Peruvian women
living in the former coca-growing
areas where USAID works
still have a long way to go.
The workshop, organized
by USAID’s Alternative
Development Program (ADP),
began in late 2007 in alliance
with the Red Nacional de
Promocion de la Mujer
(Network for the Promotion
of Women) to support women
in areas where government services
are scarce and narcotrafficking
and violence are
common.
The transition from growing
coca to producing legal crops
requires a transformation in the
mentality of an entire community.
More often than not, it is
women who lead the way.
“Twenty years ago I arrived
as a teacher,” said Severa Bejarano, a community leader
from Tingo Maria. “There was
no school, no road, no agricultural
products, just coca, violence,
poverty, and malnutrition.
“I was able to persuade authorities to provide a hectare
of land to the community so we
could grow food. Later on, we
started growing coffee. Over
time, we have created a coffeegrowers
committee. When [stubborn]
coca-growers had their
coca eradicated, they left the
area and we were able to live
more peacefully and
productively.”
Women in the Peruvian central
and eastern jungles who
receive support from USAID
commemorated International
Women’s Day in March.
In the San Martin region,
ADP communities celebrated the
end of coca dependence.
In the year and a half that the
Network for the Promotion of
Women has worked with
USAID, 1,200 people have been
trained in gender and development,
and 600 people have participated
in gender-based violence
workshops.
“These women have a desire
to overcome their circumstances—
they dream of growing
as persons and in the family
context,” said Network coordinator
Edita Herrera. “They are
very open to learning new
things, overcoming their fears
and moving ahead. They tell us
in our workshops, ‘I want to be
a leader.’”
★
FrontLines is published
by the Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs
U.S. Agency for International Development
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