The Demand for Gender Justice in an Indigenous Autonomous Community: Cherán’s Women against Feminicide
Abstract
How is gender violence faced in the context of the indigenous autonomous community of Cherán? A social movement rose in Cherán on April 15th, 2011. This movement led this municipality to be the first to achieve both an election system and a government structured by its own indigenous law, through a judicialization process. The struggle in Cherán was and is a struggle for life; nevertheless, some kinds of violence survive. This was evident when the peaceful environment achieved by the people of Cherán with their mobilization was shaken in January 2018 by the murder of the comunera Guadalupe Campanur Tapia. Our aim in this article is to share an analysis of the challenges and the strategies by which women fight against gender violence in Cherán. This text represents a shared journey of struggle and reflection that, through a collaborative methodology, engages comuneras from Cherán and a researcher that accompanies some processes in the community.