Marginalized Central American Women: Migration Myths
Location
Guzman 110
Start Date
4-19-2018 6:20 PM
End Date
4-19-2018 6:35 PM
Student Type
Undergraduate
Faculty Mentor(s)
Robert Bradford, MA
Presentation Format
Oral Presentation
Abstract/Description
Being a woman in Guatemala or elsewhere else in Central America isn’t easy and being an indigenous woman is even harder. Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador are the countries with the highest rates of feticide in the world. In these countries, one can rape, threaten, beat, stab, sexually assault, or murder a woman and can get away with it. This is typical violence in Central America where women are brutalized by street gang members and within the dysfunctional government system that historically has been dismissive of the violence against women. According to the United Nations, 63 women are killed every day in the Northern triangle of Central America. Perhaps one of the biggest challenges that women face is the deeply rooted patriarchal society and corrupted governments. This prevailing culture of machismo and the impunity are major contributors to the violence in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. As a result, women who immigrate to the United States are not coming merely for the wealth that the American Dream can give them; instead they escape the nightmares they are living in their homes seeking safety, freedom, and new opportunities. This research paper illustrates the scenarios women face in the most dangerous countries of Central America. It also lists the contributing factors of violence and impunity that go unseen in these countries leading women to immigrate to the Unites States.
Key Words:
Central American Women, Migration Myths, American Dream Misconceptions, Women and Violence , Migration Motivation, Third World Corruption
Marginalized Central American Women: Migration Myths
Guzman 110
Being a woman in Guatemala or elsewhere else in Central America isn’t easy and being an indigenous woman is even harder. Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador are the countries with the highest rates of feticide in the world. In these countries, one can rape, threaten, beat, stab, sexually assault, or murder a woman and can get away with it. This is typical violence in Central America where women are brutalized by street gang members and within the dysfunctional government system that historically has been dismissive of the violence against women. According to the United Nations, 63 women are killed every day in the Northern triangle of Central America. Perhaps one of the biggest challenges that women face is the deeply rooted patriarchal society and corrupted governments. This prevailing culture of machismo and the impunity are major contributors to the violence in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. As a result, women who immigrate to the United States are not coming merely for the wealth that the American Dream can give them; instead they escape the nightmares they are living in their homes seeking safety, freedom, and new opportunities. This research paper illustrates the scenarios women face in the most dangerous countries of Central America. It also lists the contributing factors of violence and impunity that go unseen in these countries leading women to immigrate to the Unites States.
Key Words:
Central American Women, Migration Myths, American Dream Misconceptions, Women and Violence , Migration Motivation, Third World Corruption