Maudí Tzay, a Guatemalan community psychologist with the Community Research and Psychosocial Action Team (ECAP), spoke at UW last October 19th (Thomson Hall 101 4:30pm). Her presentation touched on the crucial role of healing in movements for transitional justice and the healing opportunities that justice holds for survivors of state violence.
Earlier this year, a major legal victory was won in Guatemala when, for the first time in the Americas, sexual slavery was successfully prosecuted as a crime against humanity in a domestic court. Maya Q’eqchi’ survivors from the community of Sepur Zarco bravely testified to having been sexually and domestically enslaved by the Guatemalan military in the 1980s, leading to the conviction of two former military officers and setting a precedent for prosecuting gender-based crimes.
Ms. Tzay represents the Alliance to Break Silence and End Impunity, the interdisciplinary plaintiff coalition behind the strategic litigation that made this an emblematic case in struggles for justice across the Americas. The coalition consists of three feminist social justice organizations in Guatemala who joined forces to provide the legal, advocacy, and counselling support to make the victory possible.
Sponsored by the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program, co-sponsored by the Department of American Indian Studies.