On September 27, Venezuelan NGOs Clima 21 and Mulier Venezuela presented a report on the effects of environmental degradation on the human rights of Venezuelan women.
Estefanía Mendoza, co-founder and coordinator at Mulier Venezuela, discussed the most relevant findings of the investigation, especially the impact of the Orinoco Mining Arc and the acceleration of coal exploitation in the western Venezuelan state of Zulia.
Both situations have caused socio-environmental problems and affected traditionally vulnerable groups such as women, people in poverty, boys and girls, indigenous and rural communities and persons with disabilities.
The Orinoco Mining Arc
According to the findings, the armed groups that operate in the mining areas along the Orinoco River impose their rule and control through violence and coercion, with women the main victims of labor and sexual exploitation.
“A direct consequence for indigenous communities is that they have to displace or lose their original livelihoods, with a high cost for their lives and customs,” Mendoza highlighted.
However, mining is also related to the accelerated expansion of endemic diseases such as malaria in the Venezuelan Amazon and throughout the national territory, not to mention pollution with mercury that has been linked to neurological disorders in the fetus of a pregnant woman.
“Boys and girls have particular roles in the mines, as they are often used to reach narrow spaces inaccessible for an average adult, leaving them exposed to the risk of collapse or suffocation,” she added.
Public services
According to Mendoza, the researchers also verified that the general lack of public services has a differentiated impact on women, boys and girls.
On the one hand, the absence of cooking gas forces them to use firewood, which affects their lungs and contributes to deforestation; while the scarcity of drinking water means that women, boys and girls dedicate much of their time searching for it, which affects their mental health when dealing with the burden of leading a life without the minimum required conditions.
Mendoza warned that many girls miss school and stop participating in recreational activities and sports because they do not have water at home.
Despite some efforts by different organizations to assist the indigenous communities of the Orinoco Mining Arc, the representative of the NGO Mulier Venezuela reiterated the call to the Venezuelan State to assume its responsibility of guaranteeing people’s rights in these areas.
Translated by José Rafael Medina
