Justicia y derechos de género en Oruro, Bolivia

Abstract

The constitutionalization of indigenous autonomies and legal pluralism in Bolivia generated important transformations in community organization; specifically, in the field of gender justice of Totora Marka. Within these transformations, the Aymara women of Totora Marka move between the two dimensions of the Law: the emancipatory and the regulatory. From the regulatory dimension, the interpretation of legal reforms that institutionalize legal pluralism causes that many cases of gender violence are not addressed by either indigenous or ordinary jurisdiction. This places Totora women in a situation of greater vulnerability. Faced with this setback, women resist from the emancipatory dimension of the Law, appealing to the discourse of rights, which they adapt to their own contexts and community senses. In turn, this has a fundamental impact on the practices of justice. This vernacularization of rights gives meaning to the central proposal of women within the framework of their autonomy: the resignification of complementarity, a central principle of Aymara organization. The practices and representations of the women of Totora expose how these contradictory processes materialize within autonomous projects.

Keywords

• legal pluralism
• gender justice
• vernacularization of rights
• complementarity
• indigenous autonomies