Minorities and Indigenous Women

Wai Wai Nu is a diminutive 27-year-old with pro-democracy activism in her genes and a quarter of her young life spent behind bars.

The former political prisoner is now working to end the persecution faced by her people, the stateless Rohingya Muslims in western Myanmar.

The mistreatment she and her family have suffered is just one example among many of abuse aimed at the Rohingya, a minority of around 1.33 million living mainly in Rakhine State. Most are denied citizenship despite having lived in Myanmar for generations.

Photo-Santiago Navarro F.

The emigration of men to the United States threatens indigenous systems of governance in Mexico. When men leave, the weight of activities in small towns falls on women, but despite this women are still fighting for space in the political arena.

The Tibetan Women's Association and its global network of regional chapters said they have successfully organized a series of actions during the 33rd Kalachakra initiation offered by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and held in Ladakh from July 03-14, 2014.

June 12, 2014 became a landmark date in the history of El Salvador and marked a victory for Betty Pérez, coordinator of the Salvadoran National Indigenous Coordinating Council (CCNIS). The indigenous community of this Central American country succeeded in getting the Legislative Assembly to approve an amendment to Article 63 of the Constitution of the Republic. With this amendment, the indigenous community’s rights become expressed in the Constitution, forcing the State to create public policies that develop and protect the community.