Kategorie: Humans

The people of La Curva, an indigenous community in the Peruvian Amazon, will never forget the events of 25 January 2016.

Flor de Maria Paraná was losing hope. The pollution of the Marañón River had irrevocably changed life in Cuninico, her community in the Peruvian Amazon. So she took a half-litre soda bottle and filled it with water contaminated with oil and took it to a hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in Chile.

In Peru, communities in the Andes and the Amazon have come together to defend the health of people and families affected by pollution from toxic metals. To achieve this, they have formed the National Platform of People Affected by Toxic Metals, which was recently awarded Peru’s National Human Rights Prize. Indigenous, rural and urban women are especially affected by this daily struggle and are now determined to end the contamination affecting their bodies, their rivers and their land. They demand that the state determine responsibility and provide immediate solutions.

Much has been said in Peru about the toxic metal pollution endured by the people of Espinar, a province in the Andean region of Cusco. However, little is known about the women who have fought and continue to fight for their right to health and that of their children.