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"The aim of this document is to present testimonies that reflect the situation of rural women in Latin America, Africa and Asia. The voices of these workers of the land highlight the unbalanced nature of gender relations in rural societies throughout these three continents. This inequality is evident in denial of basic rights, gender-based violence, economic discrimination, and the negative impact of agribusiness and extractive industries which disproportionately impact women.
Beyond the impacts and discrimination suffered by rural women, their testimonies allow greater understanding of their roles in both economic production and sustenance of life, tasks often carried out exclusively by the community's female members.
In addition, the resistance towards industrial agriculture and land grabbing, the testimonies show alternative approaches to the agribusiness model. many of the actions taken by women to fight for their rights are in fact traditional practices they have recovered and sustained.
These transformative developments are formed through a process of resistance, struggle, and organisation, by rural women protecting and promoting biodiversity and food sovereignity.
The testimonies are presented under three broad headings: (i) the situation of women in the rural sector; (ii) worldviews; (iii) resistance and alternatives. The first thematic area includes an overview of the main issues facing rural women. The second includes testimonies that focus on the values and the worldviews of rural women on agriculture, biodiversity and work. The third section highlights the struggles and resistance of women and the alternatives they implement to secure a more just world" (2011: 6).
You can download the Report below or on the Friends of the Earth International website.
