In the northern Peruvian Amazon, Conservation International has long prioritized engaging women to restore rural landscapes and design sustainable livelihoods. Indigenous Awajún women hold vital knowledge of medicinal plant cultivation and are eager to learn new practices, explained Cecilia Gutierrez, monitoring and evaluation manager for Conservation International Peru.
As project staff continued to build trust with more than 50 women in the village of Shampuyacu, regular meetings about climate change or agroforestry turned to another pressing topic: gender-based violence.
“Suddenly it started to become a space where women felt very confident to start talking about things that happen at their home, with their partners, with their husbands,” Gutierrez told Devex.