"Indigenous peoples live across 90 countries, represent 5,000 different communities and speak a majority of the worlds languages. They account for less than 6 per cent of the world’s population, but make up 15 per cent of the poorest worldwide.
As more than 1,000 indigenous representatives come together in New York for the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, this year focusing on the theme 'Indigenous peoples’ collective rights to lands, territories and resources,' we’re highlighting some of the groundbreaking women activists from indigenous communities around the world.
...Tarcila Rivera Zea is a Quechuan activist from Ayacucho, Peru, and Founder of the organization Chirapaq. She is a journalist by profession and for more than 30 years has worked as an activist for indigenous peoples' rights, particularly those related to women, children and indigenous youth in national and international areas.
'I volunteered as a journalist, exposing the discrimination and abuses that indigenous women and girls endured. I brought to light the cases of women coming out of prison with children of rapes they had endured while in prison. None of these women knew they had the right to denounce and report the violence they had experienced. It had become a normal part of their lives…because they were indigenous and women.'"
