killer
Mining was the deadliest type of activity, accounting for 17. These patterns echo what is being heard across the country and around the world. Companies often collude with the state to replace and destroy the livelihoods of communities, often indigenous communities, often without prior informed consent.
This is especially true in the case of martyred Filipino defenders. We found that in 19 cases, the state and its military sent personnel to suppress opposition and protect the profitability and interests of companies that committed crimes with impunity.
Companies have also hired killers, thugs and guards to violently suppress dissent, according to local concerns. Each of the 27 women suffers from the apparent impunity of their killers, often a cover-up by police and courts without proper investigation of the crime.
What makes femicide defenders different from the violence that all face in such conflicts is how women put their bodies at risk because of their unique vulnerabilities.
Violence in conflict has gender differences. For example, 19 female activists were killed in shootings. Killers and armed forces shoot anyone they see as a threat or as a communist. And this violence has a different weight on women.
protest
The guards have an average age of 48.6, with most in their 40s and 50s. But women as young as 27 and as young as 60 are victims. We know of at least 16 people who died as wives and mothers.
This modus operandi In such attacks, the gunmen were riding side by side on motorcycles.but we also know Twelve of the women were killed in their homes or with their families.
Shooting mothers and grandmothers in front of their children in such a vulnerable space has different consequences and implications for the entire community.
Whether murdered at home or while protesting, these female activists have fought their way through gender vulnerability.
These women dared to go out and have a voice in a public sphere where decision-making is often concentrated in the hands of men.
Vulnerability
These women were killed in the context of specific gender-based violence, including domestic violence, sexual assault, threats to the family, repression, unbalanced burdens and all work-related risks.
This vulnerability often comes from narratives that portray women as mean and hysterical housewives, making it socially acceptable to punish them with violence for crossing the line.
These situations of gender-specific violence often lead to loss of confidence, reputation, livelihood, etc., for women defenders, making their situation even more dangerous. Accusing environmental defenders of being communist insurgents is common, and that poses a threat.
However, women – especially those who are also rural, poor and indigenous – remain at the front lines of mobilization, public movements, civil society groups, etc.
Their bodies are physical evidence of their shared suffering, making the invisible visible. They challenge assumptions about what defenders look like. They paved the way for later female activists.
This International Women’s Day, we salute all the brave women who defend their communities despite the unique gender vulnerabilities and violence they face.
These women are the path to true gender equality that can unify the movement against environmental injustice.
this author
Dalena Tran is a PhD student at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a member of the EJAtlas project. She studies gender-based violence and the murder of environmental defenders during ecological conflict.
This document is for the following women who lost their lives on the way:
- Manuela AlbarilloAugust 4, 2002, Leader, Mining.
- florita kaya |27/04/11, Leader, Mining.
- Cheryl AnanayoJuly 12, 2012 Member, Mining.
- Juvy CapionAugust 10, 2012 Member, Mining.
- Christina Morales JosephApril 3, 2013, leaders, climate catastrophe.
- El Salvador04/09/14, Supporters, Mining.
- Gerlie Menchie Alpahora29/07/15, leader, fishing.
- Teresita Navasila27/01/16, Mining Leaders.
- Captain GloryJanuary 7, 2016 Leaders, Fossil Fuels.
- Jennifer Albahit2 July 2016, Victims, Mining.
- Market Gayolan30 July 2016, Victims, Mining.
- Jessica SanchezAugust 14, 2016 Leaders, Mining.
- Mia Manuelita Mascara – GreenFebruary 15, 2017, Expert Supporter, Travel.
- Leonilla PesadillaFebruary 3, 2017 Member, Mining.
- Arlyn Almonicar and Cora Molave Lena27/03/17, Member, Mining.
- Caroline PloughJuly 14, 2017 Member, Mining.
- Jeanne Porras15/12/2017 Member, Mining.
- Beverly Geronimo27/05/18, Member, Mining.
- Jean LabialAugust 19, 2018 Member, Mining.
- Angelife Arsenal, Marcelina Dumaguit and Marchtel Sumicad Morena Mendoza, October 20, 2018, Leaders and Members, Agribusiness.
- Amelida TorralbaDecember 2, 2019 Leaders, Mining.
- Bailia Tumbarang23/08/19, Member, Mining.
- Josephine Eggertob12 February 2019, Member, Mining.
- Zara Alvarez8/17/20 Head of Agribusiness.
- Pemirda AnzaboAugust 23, 2020 Member, Agribusiness.
- Julie Katamin28/02/21, Leader, Hydro.
- Chai Lemita-Evangelista7/3/21 Membership, Travel.
- Lenie Rivas and Angel Rivas, 6/15/21 Member and Victim, mining.
