In Guatemala, a group of Mayan women, known as the Defenders of the Body-Territory, are leading a struggle for healing, dignity, and land. They confront both patriarchal and colonial violence — forces that exploit not only their bodies but also the territories they inhabit.
Through healing rituals with oils, candles, and flowers, the Defenders care for one another, listening without judgment and recognizing the shared wounds left by systemic oppression. Their ceremonies include offerings to Mother Earth, rooted in the Mayan worldview that understands human life as inseparable from nature — not as a resource to be exploited, but as a vital space of coexistence. For them, any aggression against the land translates into pain within their own bodies; from this understanding emerges the profound concept of body-territory.
For years, these women have stood at the frontlines of resistance against transnational companies that plunder natural resources. The cost has been devastating: persecution, imprisonment, sexual violence, and exile. Many have had to flee their communities, leaving behind families, memories, and the land they defend.
In Santa Cruz Barillas, near the Mexican border, years of indigenous resistance forced the hydroelectric company ECONER to close its operations. As political tensions eased, the Defenders began to return — rebuilding their lives, families, and activism. Today, they host community radio programs, organize public discussions, and offer healing workshops for women who have suffered violence, whether from extractive industries or within their own communities.
The Defenders understand that, in the Mayan cosmogony, everything is connected: to protect the earth is to protect oneself.
They have broken the silence. They continue to fight for a body and a land free from violence.
