Global Security and Intelligence Studies Volume 3, Number 2, Fall/Winter 2018 | Page 16

Conflicting Values Shaping Perceptions of Community Security and Women’s Health Security
Local organizations like Mayan Families work to balance what they see as
essential health needs for women with respect for cultural values and the realities
of the women they are trying to serve. For instance, one Mayan Families’ director
noted when speaking of empowering women, “We try to make that impact but
work within cultural norms” (Interview with author, February 2015). For instance,
she noted that most activities for women are conducted early in the day so that the
women can be home to make their husbands lunch. That way, they are much more
likely to be able to attend.
This is a difficult task for Mayan Families since there is strong pushback in
the Maya communities of Guatemala against the use of birth control. One of the
arguments made to women by community leaders, including some in the Catholic
Church, is that birth control is another attempt by outsiders to threaten their culture.
For instance, Archbishop Oscar Julio Vian Morales said in a 2011 interview
that “the problem is the kind of birth control methods that are used, like forcing
families into sterilization. Foreign governments should not insist on less children
but on more education” (Suarez 2011). It is interesting to note that this threat
of sterilization is the same argument made by those trying to prevent parents in
Pakistan from having their children immunized against small pox (Brannum and
Campos 2016).
The Archbishop’s statement needs to be understood in the context of a culture
that faced the very real threat of being wiped out during the civil war in the
1990s (Santiso and Bertrand 2000). This history and understanding of an outside
threat means that indigenous women working for access to healthcare may need
to convince other women that they are not part of a foreign sterilization program.
The fear expressed by some is not only that woman may have fewer children, but
that birth control could lead women to infidelity. Wings specifically addresses in
its discussion of myths about birth control, the myth that “contraceptives lead to
a woman having uncontrolled sexual desires. Only women interested in extramarital
sex want to use birth control” (Wings Top 10 Myths 2012, n.p.). Cleaning
up such misconceptions is an important part of the work that Wings does. These
challenges mean that NGOs have to decide how to allocate resources and develop
programs in a way that minimizes their cultural footprint while providing opportunities
for women and girls to control their own reproduction.
One solution that is discussed in the literature has been providing space
for women’s voices to develop rather than imposing outside voices on the women.
As Rebecca de Souza notes, “the notion of voice is central to the culture-centered
approach because it is through voice that participants gain access to structural and
cultural resources” (de Souza 2009, 693). For her, “having voice refers to a condition
in which marginalized communities speak for themselves, make their own
decisions, and contest claims that do not resonate with a sense of who they are” (de
Souza 2009, 693). While providing a space for indigenous women to voice their
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