Gender is central to the organization and functioning of Guatemalan society. In many Guatemalan communities, men work within the public and political domain while indigenous women's participation in rural highland commu-nities is usually identified in the context of community development. Spanish-language illiteracy, family power relations, and a machismo culture have limited or EXCLUDED the public and political participation of women. At the extreme, Guatemalan women are targeted for murder and mutilation in rural and urban areas -- a phenomenon called femicide/feminicide -- simply for being...