Right to bodily autonomy and a life without violence
In Guatemala, FOKUS supports women’s rights to a life without violence and to make decisions about their own bodies and future. We also work to ensure that fewer indigenous women and girls die of complications during home births.
Photo: Ixmukane Comadronas, Comadronas (traditional midwives) from Ixmukane Comadronas in Guatemala
Saves lives
Guatemala is among the countries in Latin America with the highest maternal mortality rate. Bleeding after giving birth is the leading cause of these deaths, which is often due to women and girls lacking access to healthcare services, which is particularly the case for indigenous women giving birth at home in rural areas. Thousands of pregnant girls and women depend on aid from traditional midwives, comadronas. FOKUS contributes to increased knowledge of preventive postnatal care, including the use of misoprostol to prevent bleeding. It saves lives.
Dangerous to be a woman
Sixty percent of Guatemala’s population live in poverty. The majority of these are indigenous people, most of whom reside in areas neglected by the government. It is estimated that nearly half of all women in Guatemala have experienced violence at some point during their lives. 41 032 cases of gender-based violence were registered in 2023, including 469 cases of femicide and violent death.
Over the past years several important laws have been introduced in Guatemala to protect women’s rights. This has led to increased awareness of what gender-based violence is and what it entails. But there are significant challenges in implementing the laws. Whereas impunity has been reduced somewhat in general, it is still the rule for femicides, and is estimated to be 98%.
FOKUS and four local partners in Guatemala contribute to prevent, protect and respond to gender-based violence, provide legal services, health services and psychosocial support to survivors, support training of key personnel to provide better service, enhance the capacity of indigenous women and increase awareness among men about their role in countering violence against women and girls.
Every year, 760 000 women in Latin America get complications due to unsafe abortions.
Child, but pregnant
In Guatemala, abortion is only legal when the woman’s life is at risk. Women who want to end an unintended pregnancy must do it in secret, potentially in dangerous conditions. In 2023, there were reported over 60 000 births among girls between the age of 15 and 19 years, and, even though the law categorises sexual intercourse with children under the age of 14 as rape, almost 2300 girls under 14 years old gave birth. These girls had no right to get a legal abortion.
FOKUS cooperates with three local partners and the Norwegian Midwife Association to strengthen women’s sexual and reproductive rights through mobilisation and awareness raising in communities, access to contraception, counselling and safe abortions, treatment for indigenous women in labour to prevent maternal mortality, training of healthcare workers and traditional maya midwives, advocacy efforts and countering the anti-rights agenda promoted by powerful actors.
In Guatemala, FOKUS works on:
