The sexual violence suffered by indigenous girls and women on Yanomami Land in Brazil

28-04-2022

Amanda Lemos

America and Human Rights Researcher

Global Human Rights Defence

Last week, the Hutukara Yanomami Association released a report pointing out a growth of 46% of illegal mining in the indigenous reserve during the past year, as well as how miners are demanding sex with Yanomami girls and women in exchange for food. The miners are being accused of numerous abuses against indigenous people, including deadly attacks and poisoning rivers with mercury to separate gold from sediment.

The report collected statements from indigenous people, researchers and anthropologists, and announces that at least three teenagers, up to 13 years old, became ill and died in 2020 after the abuses carried out by the illegal miners. It further details that in the Apiaú River region, residents reported that a miner exploring the area offered drugs and drinks to indigenous people and, when everyone was drunk, raped one of the children in the community. There is also a record of an “arranged marriage” between a Yanomami teenager and a miner, with a promise to pay for merchandise, which was never fulfilled.

According to Dário Kopenawa, vice-president of the Hutukara Association, the government needs to evaluate the actions adopted because many operations to fight illegal mining in the region did not have any effect. On the matter, the Federal Public Ministry filed an urgent action to the Federal Court requesting the government to coordinate the planning of new operations against socio-environmental crimes in the region, and that police teams remain in place until all environmental offenders are removed from the indigenous land.

The Association contended the indigenous girls and women see the miners as a terrible threat, as they create a environment of terror and permanent fear. Dário Kopenawa stated that his people are suffering and the report “shows the reality we are living and its consequences, of a lot of violence and vulnerability”.

Sources and further reading:

G1 Globo. (2022, April 11). Garimpeiros exigem sexo com meninas e mulheres ianomâmi em troca de comida, aponta relatório. Retrieved April 28, 2022, from https://g1.globo.com/rr/roraima/noticia/2022/04/11/garimpeiros-exigem-sexo-com-meninas-e-mulheres-yanomami-em-troca-de-comida-aponta-relatorio.ghtml

Al Jazeera. (2022, April 11). Illegal mining, abuses surge on Indigenous land in Brazil: Report. Retrieved April 28, 2022, from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/11/illegal-mining-abuses-surge-on-indigenous-land-in-brazil-report