In this episode, we talk to FCRJ’s Activists in Residence Silvia Sánchez and Sonia Cardona, who have developed a thematic repository of booklets addressing violence against Indigenous women in El Salvador, Colombia, and Ecuador. 

We explore how their project sheds light on the complex, multifaceted violence faced by Indigenous women. Silvia and Sonia discuss the importance of Indigenous women’s voices in shaping culturally appropriate solutions rooted in Indigenous cosmovisions. 

Bios

Sonia Cardona is a social Worker from the University of Antioquia. She has a master's degree in community social psychology. She is a specialist in social and political processes that seek equality, equity and inclusion and has dedicated herself to promoting initiatives that ensure women's participation in all spheres. She is an active member of feminist collectives that advocate for the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls, as well as for ensuring women's political participation, such as Artemisas (Network of innovation and political advocacy of women from different regions of Colombia), the Sophias Foundation (socially political women), and as co-leader of Colombia in Amassuru (Professional Network of Women in Security and Defence in Latin America and the Caribbean). She is currently the Women's Councillor of the District Council of Citizen Participation for the period 2024 - 2028 in Medellín, Antioquia. 

Silvia Sánchez is a Nicaraguan criminal lawyer. She currently lives and works in Spain. After working for the Public Prosecutor's Office in Nicaragua (2002-2011), she worked as an external criminal advisor for several local law firms with a regional presence in Central America. She has an impeccable professional career of more than twenty years in which she has stood out for her rigorous and reliable handling of highly complex matters. 

She is an Expert in Economic Crime (School of Legal Practice, Complutense University of Madrid), Security Intelligence Analysis (Autonomous University of Madrid), General Theory of Crime (Autonomous University of Madrid) and Conflict Analysis and Peace Building (School of Government, Complutense University of Madrid). 

She works as a researcher and independent legal advisor on issues related to criminal proceedings in Central America, citizen security and due process of law, economic and environmental crime, corporate crime, and has published articles related to rights of women deprived of liberty in Latin America, shadow economy in Latin America, racial or ethnic profiling, among other topics. 

Credits

Interviewees: Sonia Cardona and Silvia Sanchez

Interviewer: Nadia Asri

Translation: Daniela Cortés Vargas

Produced by: The Feminist Centre for Racial Justice

Sound design, editing, production: Ellan A. Lincoln-Hyde

Music: Broken by AudioWay (freesound.org)

Additional sounds: CarlosCarty (freesound.org),sgossner (freesound.org)