Around the world women environmental defenders are being shot in broad daylight, kidnapped, threatened and tried as terrorists for standing in the way of so called “development”. Ayesha Constable, writing for Frida the Young Feminist Fund, highlights that the murder of Honduran environmentalist Berta Cáceres reveals the systematic violence that targets women who dare to challenge patriarchy and capitalism. A Global Witness report in 2013, “Deadly Environments”, names Honduras the second deadliest country in the world for environmentalists, with 101 activists murdered between 2010-2014. Before her death, Berta pointed out that this aggression is worse for women as, “we are women who are reclaiming our right to the sovereignty of our bodies and thoughts and political beliefs, to our cultural and spiritual rights…”. While calls for an independent investigation into Berta’s murder grow louder, Jagoda Munic, Friends of the Earth International, affirms that no environmental justice can be achieved without ending violence against women. Photo credit: Frida
