ABSTRACT
Sexual violence against Indigenous women is an attack on women and their ethnic group. It prevents births within the group and destroys their culture and social fabric, since women often transmit values within the community. International criminal tribunals have concluded that sexual violence constitutes both a war crime and a crime against humanity. When sexual violence is committed with the intent to destroy a targeted group (in whole or in part), it can amount to genocide. Between 1981 and 1983, the State army killed at least 1,771 Mayan Ixil during the internal armed conflict (1960–1996). The domestic courts, in the landmark case against the former head of State Ríos Montt, determined that the systematic sexual violence against Mayan women during that period amounted to genocide, as its purpose was to eradicate the “Ixil seed.” The Guatemalan Army destroyed Mayan sacred places, prohibited the celebration of Mayan ceremonies, and killed many Mayan spiritual guides. For Mayan women, rape and other forms of sexual violence suffered during the internal armed conflict not only brought about physical and mental harm, but also caused an energetic break with the environment, cosmos, and life, which implied their social and spiritual death (susto) and caused a cultural rupture of the community with long-lasting effects.
