“Always a fighter”: Afrodescendent activist Lilian León offers solidarity and support to survivors of gender-based violence in northern Perú

PIURA, Perú – “Without light, water, internet and telephone services, how could we seek help? Who would listen?” said Afrodescendent farmer, craftswoman and women’s rights activist Lilian León.

Ms. León lives in Yapatera, a small village in the Piura Province known for having one of the largest communities of Afrodescendent people in Perú – and for being wracked by recurrent climate catastrophes.

Piura and its surrounding region has been slammed in recent years by torrential rains and disastrous flooding induced by the El Niño weather phenomenon and Cyclone Yaku. Crises like these tend to deepen existing inequalities – with marginalized communities like Yapatera among the hardest hit.

Reports show that people of African descent in Perú face disproportionately high poverty rates, low access to health services and schooling and acute discrimination – with almost three in four Afro-Peruvians reporting in 2013 that they didn’t seek medical attention due to concerns of bias.

These inequalities can be even more stark for women and girls, especially in the aftermath of climate disasters like those hitting northern Perú. In Yapatera, the flooding exacerbated risks of gender-based violence, too, as women and girls found themselves physically trapped in abusive homes. 

“Women who were undergoing psychological violence, or who were being beaten or raped, had nowhere to turn,” said Ms. León.

To counter these challenges, she helps spot cases of gender-based violence in her community, and connects survivors with care and expertise. As a survivor herself, she explained, “I was able to find a way out on my own. But some women need help because they feel alone.”

Network of women

Ms. León is one of more than 30 women leaders who work within their communities to identify survivors of gender-based violence and to link them with support, particularly through access to psychosocial services and legal aid. 

As with medical care, discrimination and institutional racism can all too often deter people from marginalized groups from pursuing and achieving justice, including for gender-based violence and environmental crimes.

Gender-based violence affects millions in Perú; nearly two in five ever-partnered women aged 18 to 49 years across the country report having been subjected to intimate partner violence. In Piura alone, more than 7,000 cases of violence were brought to 19 emergency centres for women and girls between last year.

“Unfortunately, Piura is still a very macho region,” Carlos Arcaya, regional coordinator of the government-run centres, told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. 

Little by little, however, Ms. León says she is seeing change. Thirteen safe spaces have been established across northern Perú, and the deployment of UNFPA-backed mobile support teams made up of lawyers, psychologists and social workers have made a difference. “There is a before and an after regarding their arrival,” she said. “We feel stronger.”

Sisterhood in action

Last year was challenging for Ms. León, who also founded the Palenque Association of Afro-Yapateran Craftspeople: The heavy rains that put members of her community at risk punctured the roof of her house and caused the association’s former headquarters to collapse.

But these obstacles have not stopped her from stepping forward and standing as a leader.

“I feel I am a role model for other women, both young and old,” she said. “They have always seen me as an example. That’s what they say to me: You’re entrepreneurial and always a fighter.”

At a workshop last November, Ms. León sat with thirty other women, crafting with clay. The activity echoed the work they had been doing in their own lives to rebuild, and to remain resilient in the aftermath of disaster and violence.

“Clay connects us to one another and helps us strengthen our friendship and sisterhood,” Ms. León said. For the women around her, she remains steadfast in her work to eradicate gender-based violence.

“I will continue as far as my strength allows me, as long as I can breathe, so that we can see empowered girls in my village, girls free of violence and abuse,” she said.