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CAWN carries out, publishes and disseminates research on women’s rights in Central America. We invite you to download, read and distribute our publications. The content of them may be used for educational purposes, however we ask that you cite the source and let us know when and how you are using them.
Tourism and Development Strategy in Central America: exploring the impact on women's lives. March 2010
In this article, entitled ‘Tourism as a Development Strategy in Central America: exploring the impact on women’s lives’ Lucy Ferguson presents the findings of research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), which she undertook in Central America between 2005-2008. The research involved interviews with women workers and community and business representatives in Costa Rica, Belize and Honduras, as well as with a wide range of actors in the tourism development domain. The main focus of the research is to analyse the impact of tourism on women’s lives in Central America. Ferguson draws parallels between the experiences of women in the tourism and the maquila sectors in that both sectors are characterized by high levels of female employment of a primarily exploitative nature offering few training opportunities and very limited promotion prospects. Long and unsociable hours with especially detrimental impact on women are also common to both sectors. Additional concerns linked to tourism, include sex tourism, forced displacement of local peoples and environmental damage, associated with large-scale tourism projects.
A Better Future for Women? As in the case of maquila workes, many women employed in the tourism sector tolerate the exploitative conditions because the alternatives open to them, such as farm work, are even worse. But Ferguson questions to what extent such work can be thought of as empowering for women and suggests that it might even be aggravating existing gender inequalities in Central American societies. For example, although aimed at providing entrepreneurial opportunities to indigenous communities, women face enormous obstacles and are rarely able to benefit from tourism initiatives. Thus, Ferguson concludes: “While the process of tourism development may have offered opportunities for some, it has done little to redress long-standing inequalities based around gender, ethnicity and nationality.”
Social Reproduction and Labour Rights: a case study of women workers in Nicaragua. February 2010
Gender, labour rights and the ethical trading initiative (ETI). December 2008
Economy Literacy: a tool for women's empowerment in Nicaragua. October 2008
The Association Agreement between the European Union and Central America: its potential impact on women's lives in Central America. March 2008
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The theme of this edition is the phenomenon of Femicide in Meso America (Femicidio or Feminicidio in Spanish). It features articles of women activists from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, who have been campaigning for the creation and implementation of appropriate legislation and institutions for these crimes in the region. In a context of State impunity, it is extremely important to support and raise awareness of the responses of women’s organisations.
Femicide is used as a legal and political term to refer to the murder of women killed because they are women. The killings are carried out deliberately with extreme cruelty. See article by Prieto-Carron,Thomsona & Macdonald in Gender and Development, Vol. 15, No 1, March 2007, Oxfam GB
The Response of International Aid Agencies to Violence against Women
in Central America –the case of Honduras. November 2008
CAWN anounces its latest research on ‘The Response of International Aid Agencies to Violence against Women in Central America –the case of Honduras’. This publication identifies seven different approaches that international aid agencies have adopted in response to tackling violence against women (VAW) in Honduras: Gender Equality, Laws and Criminal Justice, Rights-based Approaches, Men and Masculinities, HIV, Sexual and Reproductive Rights, the Health Approach, and the Economic Approach; and analyses their implementation and effectiveness.
Different international aid and development agencies have increased the intensity of their support related to VAW since it gained international attention as a development concern in the 1990s, and was widely recognised when the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women was adopted in 1993. Since then, the work of challenging VAW has progressed globally under different entry points according to the region, the nature of the funding to/from organisations, and the aid priorities related to poverty reduction, health, political participation and human rights.
However, despite international commitments to eliminate VAW, accessing resources for this work has becoming increasingly difficult, as the donor agenda has been influenced by thematic areas and geographical priorities under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness’ framework. In Central America, there is increasing concern that the current poverty alleviation programme is taking donor attention and funding away from the region’s ‘lower middle-income’ countries, where gender discrimination, unequal concentration of wealth, exploitative power relations, and VAW are very significant. While governments in the region continue to work with Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), the attention of donors has increasingly shifted to Africa.
It is important to find out how much funding each agency allocates to VAW-related programmes. However the current reality is that many agencies do not disaggregate their budget by gender-related programmes let alone gender equality, women’s projects or programmes combating VAW. Gender mainstreaming may in fact contribute to agencies not gender budgeting and makes it difficult to know whether enough resources are allocated for VAW work. The ways in which budgets are assigned also vary, for example, some agencies assign funds by regions but not by themes and larger multilateral and bilateral agencies have complicated procedures for assigning budgets.
The influence of the MDGs and the Paris Declaration on the international aid agenda makes funding VAW work more complex and raises obstacles to its inclusion as a priority in any national development strategy, making it difficult to hold governments accountable for tackling it. Although the MDGs promote rights-based approaches and have gender equality as their third goal, VAW is not directly addressed and therefore seems to get lost in formal development frameworks, instruments, indicators and reporting mechanisms.
The report highlights how the five principles of the Paris Declaration: ownership, alignment, harmonization, managing for development results, and mutual accountability, do not directly address nor incorporate the international commitments and responsibilities to tackle VAW, and the need for them to be addressed by the international donor community as a tool for successful development programmes.
Three important conclusions are raised as a result of this research: a) the multiplication of successful programmes by government institutions, NGOs and women’s organisations, b) the question of sustainability and long term programmes by aid agencies, and c) using a multi-sectorial approach to tackle VAW.
download the full report (PDF)
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Tourism ad Development Strategy in Central America: exploring the impact on women's lives. March 2010
Social Reproduction and Labour Rights: a case study of women workers in Nicaragua. February 2010
Gender, labour rights and the ethical trading initiative (ETI). December 2008
Economy Literacy: a tool for women's empowerment in Nicaragua. October 2008
The Association Agreement between the European Union and Central America: its potential impact on women's lives in Central America. March 2008
For an updated information related to news, international conferences, events and other publications related to women's rights and the Central American region, please receive this free electronic bulletin that circulates every quarter.
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CAWN's
A-Genda is a bulletin on gender and trade issues in Central America its
published twice a year. You can download copies from this website. If
you would like to receive a printed copy please contact
us.
June’s edition focuses on the concerns and strategies of Central American women in response to current negotiations for a free trade agreement between the European Union and Central America, as part of an Association Agreement between the two regions.
Organisation profile: Central American Women's Network (CAWN)
By Katherine Ronderos and Liz Cooke
Gender & Development, Oxfam Journal, Vol 18, No. 1. March 2010
"In this issue's organisation profile, we look at the Central American Women's Network. This UK-based organisation work in both Central America and in Europe to strengthen and promote the rights of Central American women, with partnsership at the core of their strategy."
Click here to see article link
No more killings! Women respond to femicides in Central
America
By Marina Prieto-Carrón, Marilyn Thomson, and Mandy Macdonald.
Gender & Development, Oxfam Journal, Vol. 15, No. 1, March 2007
This article looks at a specific form of social violence against women in Mexico and Central America, the violent murder of women - femicidio or feminicidio in Spanish, ‘femicide’ in English. We explore the nature of femicide by analysing the situation from a gender perspective, as an extreme form of gender-based violence (GBV), and linking femicides with discrimination, poverty and a ‘backlash’ against women. In a climate of total state impunity, it is extremely important to support the responses of feminists and women’s organisations in the region who are carrying out research to document femicides and GBV in general, supporting survivors and their families, and carrying out advocacy activities.
download the full article (PDF)
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In light of the negotiations for an Association Agreement (AA) between the EU and Central America, CAWN commissioned a study to highlight the main areas in which free trade agreements impact on the lives of women in the region. The study finds that unless there is a drastic change in both the process and priorities of the negotiations, an AA between the EU and Central America will deepen existing poverty and inequality in the region and impact particularly on women, further limiting their opportunities for dignified work and increasing their responsibilities.
Gender Perspectives and Women's Action on the Central America Free Trade Agreement. March 2005
This report was commissioned by CAWN as a short scoping study of the Central American Free Trade Agreement covering the following areas:
1. The overall CAFTA process
2. The work of Central American women’s organisations around CAFTA,
their positions and opportunities for joint work and research
3. The work of development agencies and solidarity organisations and networks
around CAFTA in the United Kingdom
4. The implications of processes in Mexico including the European Union’s
global agreement
The study was carried out in August and September 2003, and updated in 2005. The sources used were documents and articles mainly obtained through the Internet; a short email questionnaire for Central American and European contacts and some telephone interviews with UK organisations.
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The CAWN Newsletter includes articles written by volunteers, members, staff and organisations in Central America. It includes reports on important events in the region, and a variety of themes related to women’s rights and violence against women.
The printed Newsletter is sent to our members. If you wish to receive a printed copy of the publication, please contact us.
