Entreculturas and Alboan organise a press conference with three women human rights and environmental defenders for Women's Day

On the occasion of International Women's Day, the NGOs Entreculturas and Alboan have organised a meeting in Madrid with three Latin American women activists, with the aim of raising the profile of women who defend human rights and the environment throughout the world. This event is part of their campaign " Defenders of the Common House", through which they seek to draw attention to the important role of women in the defence of the environment and to mobilise citizens against climate change.

The press conference was attended by Keyla Canales, lawyer of Eric Radio Progreso from Honduras; María Felicita López, women's rights coordinator of the Independent Lenca Indigenous Movement of La Paz (MILPAH), from Honduras, recent winner of the European Human Rights Prize; and Lily Calderón, coordinator of the School of Human Rights of the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network (REPAM).  

"From our Lenca people we defend ourselves from the aggressions that are being carried out. We are not invaders, but ancestral peoples, but we are experiencing terrible situations, which we are suffering through the criminalisation of our companions", said the leader María Felicita López. "Eighteen indigenous women have been prosecuted for defending water and mother nature. Territory is life, and we live from it. If we don't defend it, we don't have life. It is regrettable that extractivist companies enter our territories and that states also validate these situations."  

"Women are the ones who are on the front line in the defence of their territory in order to live in it with dignity," said Keyla Canales, a Honduran lawyer. "It is important to recognise that nature has rights, and that nature is a common home for everyone. It is important to recognise the fundamental role of women defenders in the territories. Indigenous women continue to sustain hope and resist the aggressions of extractivist companies. There are many women in Latin America who are confronting a monster that only cares about accumulating capital and does not care about women's bodies".  

"Our body is our territory, our territory is life, and life is not for sale", stated Lily Calderón, who stressed that "many women have to leave their territory because they are persecuted by violence. The legal system is deficient, which leads to a worsening of the vulnerability of indigenous women".  

On behalf of Entreculturas, Irene Ortega, coordinator of the Citizenship Area, pointed out that "of the 227 defenders murdered in 2020 in these eco-social conflicts, 226 took place in countries of the Global South, with more than half of the murders occurring in just 4 countries (Colombia, Mexico, Brazil and Honduras), making Latin America the most lethal region for defenders of nature". Irene closed the meeting by thanking the women defenders "for encouraging us to join in this embrace of rebellion, of resistance in spite of the accusations that you suffer for defending nature". 

In order to reduce impunity for rights violations, in February 2022 the European Commission published its proposal for a European Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence, which opens the door to the inclusion of obligations for transnational companies to respect human and environmental rights wherever they operate.

Entreculturas and Alboan, together with 140 other Spanish and European organisations, are calling for this corporate due diligence to incorporate a gender perspective. To this end, they ask that those who represent us in the European Parliament include the necessary amendments to this end. For this reason, both organisations encourage citizens to join efforts through the collection of signatures on visible.org.  

The NGOs Entreculturas and Alboan defend the cause of Socio-Environmental Justice and to this end promote the campaign "We are Amazonia" to mobilise citizens against climate change, defend the Amazon and protect the people who inhabit it and fight against climate change: www.somos-amazonia.org 

Americas Coordinator: José Antonio Sierra.