A Just Future for Women: Women’s Justice Initiative Lasting Legacy
Gender inequality and gender-based violence are pervasive and persistent threats to progress affecting not only women and girls, but their families and communities. Guatemala faces high rates of gender-based violence (GBV), as well as high rates of impunity, with only 2% of legal cases resulting in a conviction. Services for survivors are limited, and rural, indigenous women and girls face particularly high risk of violence due to linguistic, financial, and geographic barriers to resources.
The Women’s Justice Initiative (WJI) is addressing these challenges in the Maya-Kaqchikel region of Guatemala. Founded in 2011, WJI improves the lives of indigenous women and girls through education, access to legal services, and GBV prevention. Our community-driven approach empowers indigenous women and girls with the knowledge and tools to become leaders and changemakers who break intergenerational cycles of violence, participate in public spaces, and contribute meaningfully to thriving communities.
Today, WJI implements programming across 85 communities in the Maya Kaqchikel region of Guatemala and we share our methodology with partner organizations in three countries. Our legal-empowerment methodology harnesses the transformative power of the law, using existing legal frameworks to advance justice, while addressing the systemic barriers indigenous women face. We combine rights education with mobile legal service delivery to empower indigenous women in rural areas to know and use the law. By providing culturally responsive programs designed by Maya Kaqchikel women and offered in the local language, WJI is meeting women and communities where they are and responding to their needs.
By shifting harmful social norms and enhancing the justice system’s capacity to respond to violence, WJI provides lasting solutions at the individual, familial, and community levels.
To date, over 10,000 women and girls have participated in WJI programs. More than 50,000 individuals have directly benefited from our work, and over 150,000 have been reached indirectly.
Having just launched our bold strategic plan, A Just Future for Women; Investing in WJI’s Legacy, our vision for the coming years is ambitious. By 2027, we will reach 500,000 individuals, more than tripling our impact. We will double our coverage in the region through our evidence-based programming, while we continue to adapt and share our proven methodology with community-based organizations across Central America.
WJI is building a just future by investing in the transformative potential of women and girls. We know that when women and girls are empowered and can live free from violence, they become catalysts for change in their communities and build brighter, safer, more equitable futures for the next generation.
