Global Women and their Impact: Rigoberta Menchú
/Every woman can make a difference, and we all do, in our own unique way. We have an impact on our family, our children, friends and coworkers. And they influence us - how much have we learned from our mothers, grandmothers, siblings and best friends, even if we sometimes don’t want to admit it?
In our blog series “Global Women and their Impact” we want to introduce women from different countries and show how they have influenced society, the entrepreneurship and business world and their industry.
Central America: Rigoberta Menchú
Rigoberta Menchú is a K’iche’ Guatemalan human rights activist, feminist and Nobel Peace Prize lareate. She has become widely known as a leading advocate for Indigenous rights and ethno-cultural reconciliation.
Rigoberta was born in 1959 in Chimel, a village in Quiché province, a small Mayan community in Guatemala. As a child, she helped her family with farm work on large Pacific Coast coffee plantations, through which she lost two brothers.
Through the Catholic Church, Rigoberta became involved in social reform activities, particularly those surrounding women’s rights, when she was just a teenager.
A civil war against the Mayan people began in 1960 under the military dictatorship of the region. A peace treaty was signed in 1996, but by then 450 Mayan villages were destroyed with over 200,000 dead and 1 million displaced.
Rigoberta’s family mobilized Guatemalans during the war to denounce government-led mass atrocities, which ultimately led to the murder of Rigoberta’s father, brother and mother. This left 21-year-old Rigoberta to flee into exile.
Whilst in exile, Rigoberta publicly spoke about the civil war and wrote her book, which helped bring the issue into the global headlines.
In 1992, Rigoberta received the Nobel Peace Prize for her work for the rights of Indigenous peoples and reconciliation between ethnic groups. Rigoberta has returned to Guatemala on multiple occasions and continued to advocate for the cause of the Indigenous people but has received death threats and been forced to return to exile.
Rigoberta has become a leading advocate for Indigenous rights and reconciliation throughout the Western Hemisphere and achieved many international awards for her work. She created the Rigoberta Menchu Tum Foundation (FRMT) to support Mayan communities and survivors of genocide as they seek justice.
“Only together can we move forward, so that there is light and hope for all women on the planet”
Read more about Rigoberta in her biography: I. Rigoberta Menchú: An Indian Woman in Guatemala.
Global Women of Impact is a blog series that features influential women around the globe and how they each made a difference in their field. Written by Nina Bader, Diversity & Inclusion Facilitator and Martha Fallon, Social Media Coordinator, Young Women in Business Vancouver.