One in four girls in Mexico suffer sexual violence before the age of 18. One in five Mexican women between the ages of 15 and 17 drop out of school because they are pregnant. 32% of Guatemalan women cannot read or write. The violence suffered by women in Mexico and Central America has many faces. The most visible violence, such as femicides, are only the tip of the iceberg.
This violence is often normalized as if it were the result of fate or bad luck, glossing over or even ignoring the gendered nature of the crime. Once normalized, violence ends up being validated and reproduced in settings as varied as homes, schools and health centers.
Narrating this violence in a way that analyzes and portrays the causes while outlining possible solutions remains a challenge rarely taken up by the mainstream media. A constructive journalistic approach that inspires and illuminates ways forward, while avoiding getting mired in despair, is the essence of the project "Cambia la Historia". To change history, the stories must change as well.
Portraits of life and resilience
The project brought together reporters from nine local media outlets in Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador, who were trained and supported during their research. The reporters collaboratively developed and published stories of female experiences on topics as diverse as advanced age, mental health, prison life, disability, abortion rights, obstetric violence and forced sterilization policies.
Among the texts that can be found on the project's website (in Spanish) is "How the years have passed" (in English), written by Daniela Rea and with photos by María Ruiz.
For the article, journalists from Pie de Página, a member of the media alliance Periodistas de a Pie, a DW Akademie partner, investigated how the lack of a public care system leaves seven million senior women in a situation of potential vulnerability in Mexico. These women have dedicated decades to raising children and doing care work yet they are paradoxically left without any support at the end of their lives.
This story, which exposes the structural violence perpetrated by family members, society and the government, also tells the story of a group of women who have managed to weave and maintain a support network for more than 20 years. Thanks to this network, they have learned to defend, love and care for themselves.
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Changing the narrative: Latin American women use constructive journalism to shape their stories
It's time to change history
The aim of "Cambia la Historia" is to not just to denounce structural violence against women in Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala, but also to seek solutions through constructive journalism. The multimedia works are published on a platform created by DW Akademie and in the independent media outlets from where the reporters collaborate.
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Changing the narrative: Latin American women use constructive journalism to shape their stories
Daniela Rea, Mexico City
"Cambia la Historia allows me to tell stories about women, the violence we experience and the way we propose to end it," said award-winning journalist Daniela Rea. In addition to being co-founder and reporter for Pie de Página, a member of the Global Investigative Journalism Network, Daniela is part of Nuevos Cronistas de Indias of Gabriel García Márquez's New Ibero-American Journalism Foundation.
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Changing the narrative: Latin American women use constructive journalism to shape their stories
Dalia Souza, Jalisco (Mexico)
"For many years, they have been called "crazy." Now we share the struggle of women who fight neurotypical mental health and the patriarchal model of feminism," said Dalia Souza, head of information at ZonaDocs, an independent media outlet in Jalisco, Mexico. ZonaDocs investigates forced disappearances and gender issues, among other topics.
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Changing the narrative: Latin American women use constructive journalism to shape their stories
Fátima Escobar, San Salvador (El Salvador)
Fátima Escobar is a journalist who works as a reporter for Alharaca, one of the few multimedia outlets in El Salvador with a specific agenda on gender. "Cambia la Historia means building and learning about a new journalism that challenges you and changes the meaning of information every day," she said. Her journalistic work is focused on public health, gender and human rights issues.
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Changing the narrative: Latin American women use constructive journalism to shape their stories
Dulce Soto, Mexico City (Mexico)
Dulce Soto works as a reporter and mentor at Corriente Alterna, a platform developed by the National Autonomous University of Mexico to promote journalism. She leads a team of reporters-in-training and advises their investigations. "I really like learning. It's like going back to school but without the ugliness of an inflexible system. Besides, working with other women like me is very rewarding."
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Changing the narrative: Latin American women use constructive journalism to shape their stories
Jade Ramírez Cuevas, Jalisco (México)
"This space allows us to rethink ideas of self-care and topics that affect us. We are talking about us as women and therefore it is very important to share," said award-winning Jade Ramírez Cuevas. A self-taught radio reporter, she is currently the director and founder of Perimetral, a platform focused on radio journalism that portrays the problems faced by rural and indigenous people.
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Changing the narrative: Latin American women use constructive journalism to shape their stories
Lizbeth Hernandez, Mexico City (Mexico)
"It is very empowering to think of our stories as a collective, it is a gift. I want to empower us for all those who face violence every day," said the coordinator of Kaja Negra, a digital media outlet focused on stories about women and the LGBTQ+ community. Since 2011, she has covered women's struggles in Mexico for media outlets such as The Washington Post in Spanish and Animal Político.
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Changing the narrative: Latin American women use constructive journalism to shape their stories
Mely Arellano, Puebla (Mexico)
Arellano is co-founder and co-director of LADO B, a local digital media outlet, with almost 10 years of existence and more than 20 local, national and international journalism awards. In 2014 she won the "Equity and Gender" award in the Reportage category of the National Journalism Award and one in the Chronicle category in 2018 with a text about women's resistance to the mine in Ixtacamaxtitlán.
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Changing the narrative: Latin American women use constructive journalism to shape their stories
Paulina Alejandra Ríos, Oaxaca (Mexico)
Paulina Alejandra Ríos has been a journalist for more than 30 years. She is the director of the Página3.mx news portal, the first independent media outlet in Oaxaca which has been active for 10 years. "Cambia la Historia is an exciting and motivating professional challenge. It means to write again, to live again, to feel that passion again and to continue acquiring knowledge," she said.
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Changing the narrative: Latin American women use constructive journalism to shape their stories
Silvia Lilian Trujillo, Guatemala (Guatemala)
"This is a unique opportunity for dialogue, it is a space of trust," said Silvia Lilian Trujillo about Cambia la Historia. She is co-editor of the feminist media outlet LaCuerda, one of the few independent media outlets in Guatemala with a gender agenda. In addition to being a sociologist, she is a professor at Rafael Landívar University and has conducted research for several UN organizations.
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Changing the narrative: Latin American women use constructive journalism to shape their stories
Women support each other
Journalists and photojournalists Marlene Martínez (Lado B), María Ruíz (Pie de Página), Isabel Briseño (Pie de Página), Mariana Mora (ZonaDocs), Diana Manzo (Página3) and Mahé Élipe (Kaja Negra) contributed with visual and narrative proposals to the development of their colleagues' projects, each of them linked to an independent media outlet in the region.
#CambiaLaHistoria is a multimedia journalism project that compiles the work of journalists from nine local media in Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala to highlight the structural violence against women in the region under a constructive approach. #CambiaLaHistoria was developed by DW Akademie and promoted by the Federal Foreign Office.
