FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: In Atlanta, Soyia Ellison, soyia.ellison@emory.edu
In Guatemala City, Chris Hale, cbhale@emory.edu, 43582274
GUATEMALA CITY - Guatemalan women face deep inequities in exercising their fundamental right of access to information, according to a new study from The Carter Center's Global Access to Information Initiative.
The Center, which conducted the study in collaboration with Accion Ciudadana, the Human Rights Ombudsman's Office, the Indigenous Women's Ombudsman's Office, the Presidential Secretariat for Women, and U.N. Women, will release key findings Thursday, Feb. 19, at 2:30 p.m. at Casa Ariana. Panelists will include Human Rights Ombudsman Jorge de Leon Duque, Presidential Secretary for Women Lourdes Xitumul Piox, Ombudswoman for Indigenous Women Gloria Lainez, and the representative in Guatemala for U.N. Women, Maria Machicado. The media is welcome to attend this event.
Women and the Right of Access to Information in Guatemala details the inequities that Guatemalan women face in attempting to access information and the importance of information for women's economic empowerment and the protection and exercise of other rights.
This mixed-methods study was carried out in the departments of El Quiche, San Marcos, Chiquimula, Alta Verapaz, Huehuetenango, and in Guatemala City. Researchers conducted over 600 interviews with community leaders, experts, public agency employees, and citizens entering agencies for information or services. Sixty-four percent of community leaders and 60 percent of experts said that women are not able to access information with the same facility as men. The perception of inequities facing women in the exercise of the right to information was significantly higher in certain departments, such as El Quiche and San Marcos. Obstacles to accessing information include poverty, illiteracy, fear, machismo, lack of time, inconvenient access, and lack of knowledge about the right to information and how or where to ask for it.
Researchers also asked community leaders what sort of information women were most interested in receiving. They said they needed to know more about education, how to start a business, and their rights in general.
A meeting of government and civil society stakeholders took place on Wednesday, Feb. 18, to formulate creative solutions that address the obstacles identified in the report. These recommendations will be presented at the study report launch and will serve as a roadmap of concrete actions to overcoming the inequities that women face.
"The Carter Center looks forward to continuing to work with its committed partners in government and civil society to advance a meaningful right of access to information for all Guatemalans, particularly women," said Laura Neuman, director of the Global Access to Information Initiative. "We believe better access will result in increased economic empowerment and the protection of rights, which will benefit all of the nation's citizens."
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