Natalia Koper - LifeGate

Guatemala, Maya women fight to defend indigenous textiles from the fashion industry

An organisation that unites over 1,000 mainly Maya women in Guatemala has expressed alarm that indigenous handicrafts, textiles called “huipiles” in particular, are under threat because underpriced industrial fabrics appropriating indigenous patterns have flooded the Guatemalan market, depriving many native women of their main source of income. Read more: Down to Xjabelle, the fashion collection by a young designer with Down

Mexico and human rights, a law on forced disappearances is finally on the way but is it enough?

It’s been two years since the Mexican Congress began working on the General Law on Enforced Disappearances, but despite the arrival of the Senate’s approval on the 27th of April there’s still a long way until Mexico becomes accountable for the over 30,000 people who are currently missing. The bill still awaits consideration on the part of the Chamber of

The status of the world’s native peoples: what was said at the UN Forum on Indigenous Issues

Over 1,000 indigenous peoples’ representatives from the North Pole to New Zealand reflected on the progress and challenges in safeguarding indigenous rights during the 16th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues held at the international organisation’s headquarters in New York between the 24th of April and 5th of May. Calling for concrete action,

Trump revokes transgender rights instituted by Obama. And the Supreme Court backs down

In a one-sentence order the Supreme Court announced that it wouldn’t hear the case of a 17-year old Gavin Grimm that could have affected the interpretation of a non-discrimination law. “In light of the guidance document issued by the Department of Education and Department of Justice,” the Court decided to send the case back to the Court

Argentina, beauty pageants banned all over the country. Women’s rights activists celebrate

In a response to concerns over hate crimes against women in Argentina organisers announced the suspension of the Miss Reef beauty contest for the first time in its 23-year history. The long-standing controversy surrounding the values promoted through the contest, commonly known as “the backside of the summer”, has escalated in the wake of an

LGBT rights in Latin America, caught between progressive laws and widespread homophobia

The legislative landscape in the area of LGBT rights in Latin America began to evolve in the early 2000s. Whereas in 1999 almost half the region still criminalised homosexuality, the legalisation of same-sex marriages in Spain in 2005 incentivised its former colonies (and not only) to refresh their policies on the matter. Since then five Latin American countries – Uruguay, French

Nicaraguan elections, Ortega wins as opposition is crushed

The 2016 Nicaraguan elections took place on the 6th of November: voters chose the next country’s president, vice-president, members of the National Assembly and representatives of the Central American Parliament. Incumbent President Daniel Ortega, leader of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), together with his running mate and wife Rosario Murillo won 72 per cent of votes out of

“Conservation keeps the spirit of our ancestors alive,” say indigenous Awas Tingni abandoned by Nicaraguan state

The case of Awas Tingni, a small indigenous Mayangna community in Nicaragua, made history. This year the community celebrates fifteen years since it won the case in Inter-American Court of Human Rights (I-A Court), which ruled that the government should given them entitlement over their ancestral lands – also in order to protect them from exploitation at the

Mexico plunges into human rights crisis after violence erupts in Oaxaca State

Mexico is struggling with a profound human rights crisis. Unionised teachers have radicalised in response to a reform of the education sector whose main pillar is the adoption of a mechanism that will evaluate teaching capacities through standardised testing instead of investing in teacher training or school facilities. Federal and state police contained a teachers’ protest on the

Mercury poisoning of indigenous people plagues the Amazon. Illegal mining is the cause

Survival International, a global movement for tribal peoples’ rights, has denounced mercury poisoning in Latin America in a letter to the UN Special Rapporteur for Health. The organisation highlights Venezuela, Peru and Brazil as countries that don’t comply with procedures to monitor the effects of mining on the environment. Mercury contamination, which commonly follows illegal