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Say No UniTE to end violence against women is a global call for action that began in November 2009. Its main purpose is to raise awareness of the tremendous violence against women, for example femicidio, in Guatemala. Its goal is overall education reaching across social classes and various societal institutions in hopes to eliminate violence against women and girls.

The article discusses how the Guatemalan government and different UN offices are launching a regional initiative called: "UNiTE to End Violence against Women." The initiative is a global action to end violence against women and girls in Guatemala. According to the article, violence against women has far-reaching consequences, harming families and communities, along with undermining economic growth.

This article focus's on Guatemala's need for the vote to end violence against women. Around 70% of women and girls are physically or sexually abused by men in their life time. This article highlights the importance of this issue and its prevalence in Guatemala.

Although the previously bookmarked article seeks to establish an outline of the human or women rights violations that occur within Guatemala, here, author Karim Velasco, sheds light upon newly distinguished laws and explains despite their hopeful goals, why they have ceased to work effectively. She argues that because of the "lack of effective investigation and prevention strategies of the Guatemalan authorities", women continue to be raped, tortured, and murdered at an increasing rate. Because of pressures from the European Parliament to abide by human rights laws, "on April 9, 2008, Guatemalan Congressed passed the 'Law Against Femicide and other Forms of Violence against Women Act' to severely punish any kind of gender-based violence..." However, because the violence stems from the power inequality between men and women in the first place, there is little belief or evidence that this Act will be implemented or strongly enforced by the men in power who seek to represent masculinity or display a constant idea of machismo.

This is an article discussing the resent return of remains of a young woman who disappeared during Argentina's "Dirty War." Years after the end of the war this is an example of the ways in which the victims and the communities are dealing with the violence and terror that had become characteristic to their lifestyles. Thanks to a non-profit organization working to find and return loved ones to families affected by the violence people of this region and others around the war are beginning to be able to mourn the loss of their family members and acknowledge the violence that they were subjected to under their corrupt government.

This article talks about the relationship between violence and the political family ruling Venezuela, los Chávez. Kidnapping is the main concern of this article and how such violence is stemmed from the political family and the rate in which it is increasing over other countries.

In Guatemala the rate of violent deaths of women is outrageously hight and is still growing rapidly. The murdering of women usually involves torture, rape, or mutilation. Norma Cruz,co-founder of the NGO Survivors Foundation, has helped to provide many victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse and the families of murdered women with emotional and social support. According to Cruz, the "increasing number of killings of women in Guatemala is tied to the poverty that is the aftermath of Guatemala's civil war..." Even though her position in the foundation has many risks and harms, it has given voice to many victims and inspired other foundations in Guatemala to help this on-going issue of violence.

This article discusses the experiences of several young women involved in large Guatemalan gangs. Studies have found that almost 40% of gangs are constituted of young women (ages 14-21). These youths are living on the streets, and their fellow gang members often coerce them into group sex and group beatings. They are forced to have sex with most members of the gang, and kill someone, just for initiation. Admist the violence in Guatemala, young children are being orphaned, and end up getting involved in street gangs and violence. The article mentions how sometimes children are beaten at home, and they join a gang to "escape" it, when in reality, they are being beaten by the gangs, "their adopted family", as well. Gang leaders hold intense social control on their members.

The article entitled "Guatemala's 'Femicide' Crisis" seeks to explain the implications of the unnecessary and brutal mass killings occurring amongst women in Guatemala mostly by male gangs. Because the killings have exceeded such an unusual extent, it has been deemed a "Femicide", otherwise known as a "Gendercide" or a genocide directed mainly against females. The ages of girls or women discussed in this article being raped, beaten, and murdered range from three year old toddlers to middle aged women. Not only do gangs of men perform these acts for no reason other to establish masculinity within their affinity groups. Moreover, the law enforcement agencies are so corrupt that it was said, "justice imposed by the state is non-existent" and "only two per cent of crimes against women are solved." This article seeks to establish the problem that is still going on even after the forty-year civil war while other chosen articles are determined to look for solutions.

This article discusses how many indigenous peoples throughout Latin America are experiencing a loss of cultural tradition, along with conflict and violence because of religion. Of the 40 million indigenous people who live in Latin America today, the most prevalent religion is still Roman Catholicism; however, over the years, other religions have surfaced such as Protestantism and Evangelicalism. The emergence of different religions have changed the collective behavior of indigenous people, along with breaking away their traditional nature.

Throughout Latin America, indigenous communities are losing their sense of tradition, stemmed from large established religious denominations and lesser known groups. While some churches focus on social concerns, others focus on spiritual concerns, creating a division between communities and families. The "sects" have taken on the role of dividing the people and lowering them to interests of the dominant powers. Anthropologists and religious leaders blame the sects for employing indigenous peoples with money and advertising beliefs that go against their way of life.

La Familia in 2006 emerged as the largest force in organized crime in Mexico, and had a brutal attack in a nightclub in Uruapan to showcase their power. There latest target is the federal police, and in their pursuit they have succeeded in the largest single assault on the federal government since Felipe Calderon assumed office in 2006 and declared war on drug gangs. The agenda of La Familia differs from rival gangs who focus on smuggling and selling drugs. La Familia wishes to develop itself into a malignant institution that extorts taxes from businesses, controls petty crime, and funds community projects. Michoacán, the hometown of Mr. Calderon has become the center of the drug trade as trafficking for the American and local markets grew. La Familia gives loans to farmers, businesses, schools and churches, and they advertise their benevolence in local newspapers. La Familia is recognized as Mexico's largest producer of methamphetamines, as well as controlling the import, transport and sale of cocaine in the state. Surprisingly drugs only account for half of their revenue. Although the government applauses itself for its increase in arrests, most of the people they detain are never charged, and the recession and rising unemployment will provide the mobs with a larger possibility of recruits. Retaking Michoacán back from La Familia is a battle that has just begun.

This photomontage depicts El Salvador's remembrance of the 20th anniversary of the Jesuit Massacre of 1989, when six distinguished priests; their housekeeper and her daughter were murdered by the government's troops. Students have joined together to create traditional street carpets, honoring the lives of those innocently destroyed in one of the many brutal chapters of El Salvador's twelve-year civil war. In accordance with the Jesuit philosophy, El Salvadorians have decided to display the blood stained clothing of the victims in a memorial room, so the event does not dissipate in individual's memories but rather directly confronts the viewer so they are incapable of ignoring the stark realities of the massacre. Thousands gathered for a candlelight vigil amongst members of the victim's families, and Jesuit priests from around the world assembled to organize an evening mass in which their sermons assailed social injustice and inequalities held in front of the thousands gathered.

This article provides actual text messages sent to Guatemalan Human Rights activists that threaten lives of members and their families. Numerous texts were sent to the Protection Unit for Human Rights Defenders in Guatemala, or UDEFEGUA. The text talk about Army files and accuses the activists as being guerrillas. The organization demands that these acts be dealt with by the government and has made all threatening text messages public.