Editor’s Note: Stirring the Fire comes to you from Guatemala where our team is producing a documentary about how Population Council Guatemala is preventing violence against Mayan women.  STF team member Kara Marnell reports from the field below.

Maria is full of grace.

At 24 years old, she might have been ‘ordinary’ except for the lifetime of suffering she has already endured and overcome at her young age.

Maria Chicoj’s mother died when she was the tender age of 12, leaving Maria, seven sons, another daughter, and a husband who struggled to support his family and turned to alcohol for comfort. The alcohol fueled domestic violence and Maria was his regular victim.  But she was never defeated.

Today, Maria is an advocate for women and adolescents as a Social Change Agent with DEMI (The Defense of Indigenous Women) in Quetzaltenango.  Self-assured and not much taller than most of her students, Maria scans her classroom, making eye contact with each one of her young female students as she discusses the stages of womanhood.   She wasn’t always this confident.  After her mother passed away, Maria dropped out of school and became the substitute mother for her seven brothers and younger sister, a nearly impossible job for a young girl but nonetheless an expected role.  After more than a decade of brutal beatings by her father, she made a decision to finally stand up for herself and create a different life, one of strength and dignity.

Hearing that DEMI was interviewing for an internship program, Maria found an excuse to leave the house and attend the interview.  She did so with considerable risk.  In fact, DEMI is an organization that is not supported by the Guatemala government and is otherwise not very welcome.  In fact, it’s routinely protested by men in Guatemala.  A day later after the interview, Maria was awarded the internship position.  It was the first time in her memory that she felt valued.

That was only a year ago.

What a difference a year makes in the life of one person determined to make changes.

Maria’s story is not an isolated one.  In Guatemala, women are among the most marginalized.  This human rights crisis is surging in Guatemala, a nation with a grim history of violence and decades of civil war, as abuse against women has reached a record high.  According to the UN, nearly 45% of Guatemalan women have suffered some form of violence in their lifetime and cases of rape and even murder is widespread.  While a corrupt patriarchal society rooted in inequality may have tolerated such injustice, global initiatives are dedicated to combating the brutality faced by these women and young girls.

The challenge to replace stories of abuse and oppression, such as Maria’s with respect and safety and confidence is daunting. But, positive change is possible one person, one household at a time through efforts to raise awareness about the issues women face and, in doing so, inspire others to join in the global movement to end gender inequality.

With a smile in her eyes, Maria moves through her community with credibility as a veteran of domestic abuse with a determination and a powerful message for girls.  Like a warrior, Maria is trying to move mountains.  In addition to her internship with DEMI, empowering young girls, Maria still cares for her family, her father, and also continues with her schooling with the hope of becoming a lawyer and perhaps a more formal, legal voice for Guatemalan women.  She reveals no signs of fear, defeat or even fatigue but, instead, exhibits passion and energy to make a difference in the lives of young women in her community, her country.

Today, Maria smiles broadly even around the father who beat her repeatedly.  And, sober now, he accepts his daughter’s role with some pride as he listens to her message and visits the shelter where she fled to escape his demons.  He is a regular subject in her narrative as the thief who helped steal her childhood.

Maria forgives but cannot forget, should not forget.  She cannot let others forget an all too common story confronting woman and girls in Guatemala.

Her experience is part of who she is and what she stand for today.  To offer it to others is a gift.

Indigenous young women as change agents against violence in Guatemala

The high prevalence of gender-based violence in Guatemala leaves Mayan women and girls living in poor and isolated communities particularly exposed to risk. In a powerful approach to empower indigenous young women as agents of change in their communities, Population Council Guatemala, with support from the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, is pairing them with mentors from local organizations, to engage them in a range of prevention activities.

Among other things, the girls undertake GPS-based community mapping, plotting every household, building and route to produce maps that show where girls and women feel safe or at risk. The maps are making young women and their safety concerns visible for the first time, catalyzing community-wide discussion about violence against women and girls and ways the community could come together to prevent it. In addition, Population Council is training a cadre of girl leaders in participatory video to highlight issues of gender and violence in their communities.

The UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, administered by UN Women, is a leading source of support for efforts to end violence against women and girls across the world. You can join this vital work by donating to the UN Trust Fund and by taking action at Say No – UNiTE to End Violence against Women.