Amazon Watch profiles Patricia Gualinga, a Kichwa woman leader of the community of Sarayaku in the Amazon Rainforests of Ecuador. Patricia was a key protagonist in the recent historic indigenous rights victory at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in which her community received support to their claims of violation by oil companies opening fossil fuel extraction sites in their traditional territories without consent. Through her vocal leadership, Patricia has helped to inspire and empower countless other Indigenous women leaders in her community, and across Ecuador and the Amazonia region, to stand up and speak out with strength to protect their homelands from fossil fuel and mining companies. Photo credit: Caroline Bennett
