b'DOING: WOMENS JUSTICE INITIATIVECHANGING PERCEPTIONS in GUATEMALAThe Womens Justice Initiative helps Indigenous women and T he Womens Justicegirls live a life free of violenceBy Anna-Liza Badalooanother vital issue. According to UNICEFstrying to help them. There are very Initiative (WJI) inGirls Not Brides report, 30 per cent offew local organizations that are working Guatemala is committed toIndigenous girls in Guatemala are marriedtowards the prevention of gender-fighting gender inequalityby the age of 18. This is 17 per cent higherbased violence, Raquec explains. In and ending violence perpetrated againstthan the regional average.many communities, violence against Indigenous women and girls in ruralwomen has become so normalized communities in the Central AmericanWJIs program director Elvia Raquec is at thethat it is often not even recognized, country. WJI envisions a world in whichforefront of trying to change these worryingfar less talked about. That is also a Indigenous women and girls are activestatistics. Through the tremendous workchallenge for the organizations that community leaders that know their rights,of the WJI, she is helping to support andcome into the communities and try to have access to culturally appropriate legalempower the countrys Indigenous womenprevent violence.services, and can live safe lives, free ofto live free of gender-based violence. gender-based violence. Machismo is also alive and well in There are several factors that contributeGuatemala, which further contributes One in three women in Guatemala suffersto violence against Indigenousto the abundance of violence against from violence, and in rural areas, thiswomen in Guatemala, Raquec says,Indigenous women. Men often think that number is even higher. Early marriage isincluding a shortage of organizationsthey have the right answer or the right'