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🇵🇾 Paraguay /Culture & Society

Indigenous women demand formal state recognition for their resistance

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Indigenous women’s organizations in Paraguay held a public statement in Asunción during Indigenous Women’s Week, calling for formal recognition of traditional midwives.
  • They said midwives provide care where hospitals, doctors and medicines are unavailable, and demanded their inclusion in the health system and care policy.
  • The groups also denounced institutional and obstetric violence, early pregnancy and threats from organized crime in Indigenous territories.

“Indigenous women resist and save lives,” the women declared in Asunción as Paraguay marked Indigenous Women’s Day on Sept. 5. Their statement formed part of Indigenous Women’s Week 2026, held under the theme “Indigenous Midwifery: Community wisdom for birth and life.”

Indigenous women resist and save lives.

· Indigenous women in ParaguayThe slogan used during the public statement in Asunción.

Gathered at Plaza Italia, the women honored Bartolina Sisa and India Juliana, saying the two Indigenous figures gave their lives so that Indigenous women could still be present five centuries later. The event brought together members of the Articulation of Indigenous Women of Paraguay, the Coordination of Rural and Indigenous Working Women, and the Federation for the Self-Determination of Indigenous Peoples.

The organizations said traditional midwives “actively save lives and provide care where public health services do not reach,” including territories without a nearby hospital. They called on the state to formally recognize Indigenous midwives within the health system and national care policy.

Every Sept. 5, we honor Bartolina Sisa and India Juliana. They gave their lives so that today, five hundred years later, we can be here.

· Indigenous women in ParaguayThe women honored Indigenous figures during Indigenous Women’s Week.

The women also described institutional and obstetric violence as experiences they know well when they reach hospitals. They said mistreatment becomes worse when the patient is young, with criticism extending to relatives and the midwife accompanying her. They demanded public policies to prevent early pregnancy among girls and accessible mechanisms for reporting institutional and obstetric violence.

Indigenous midwives save lives where the state is absent and need formal recognition within the health system and the care policy.

· Indigenous women’s organizationsTheir demand for official recognition of traditional midwives.

Their statement also addressed violence in Indigenous territories, including the presence of organized crime linked to illegal crops and the sexual exploitation of girls and adolescents. The women said their forests, territories, seeds and collective knowledge were under threat, but insisted they would continue defending their rights and highlighting their work and leadership in their communities and nationally.

We will not give up and will continue demanding our rights.

· Indigenous women in ParaguayTheir response to threats against Indigenous territories, seeds and collective knowledge.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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