Mayan women demand justice in fight against gender violence

Mérida, Yucatán.- Mayan women demand access to justice and an adequate fight against gender violence. Members of the Chuuunt’aan group assured that the current justice system that prevails in the communities of the entity has not been efficient in combating the violence they have been subjected to. They criticized local legislators for their lack of attention to this issue, which ensures that each region’s justice system is functional. Furthermore, they reproached that it is not recognized as such.

“Even so, they ignored our right to justice. They did not pay any attention to it in the local Congress. They did not pay any attention to it in the Congress here. The law has not been removed, but they had already harmed us enough before that. First, they took away our peace courts. Now they put in those who have a law degree,” said Silvia Chalé, who spoke on behalf of the group.

The members of Chuuunt’aan stood at the doors of the local Congress demanding that the deputies attend to their petition to apply the necessary legal adjustments because they insist that in the municipalities of Yucatan, justice for women is not assured, which has exacerbated gender violence.

They argued that when a woman requires attention, she rarely receives it and is even the victim of discrimination.

“They hurt our justice systems, and we no longer have a way to confront violence. We believe many femicides would have been avoided when we could have done justice in our towns. Instead, what they did to us is racism and condemned us to more violence,” she said.

The group demanded that the right of citizens to self-determination be guaranteed, as well as respect for their rights to resolve their conflicts in accordance with the customs of the communities.

The Yucatan Times
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