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This article depicts women in Latin America who are involved with the current day social movements. It provides us with information regarding the leading participants in the social movements and exactly what the social movements are. Some of them focus on human rights and collective consumption like the cost of living.

. This article discusses how Evangelicalism in Latin American has improved the well-being of communities. Evangelicalism has made a positive impact on prostitutes, alcoholics, and drug abusers to change their lifestyles and learned how to improve their economic situations in ways that would not exploit them or put them in danger. The discussion is then furthered when the author examines Evangelicalism's potential to help improve the economic situations in Latin America and whether or not it can create more social changes.

Evangelicalism provides a way for social and culture change to occur. Here the flaws of the movement is pointed out so that the movement can prove to be more effective.

Dalia Acosta's article addresses the gender equality issues throughout Latin America. Her interview of Julio César Gonzaléz presents an engaging, and possibly controversial, argument that women are not the only victims of Latin America's dominant and rigid patriarchal system and hierarchy: men also face an oppression, although different, due to the socially constructed concept of masculinity.

This article explains the issues of gender roles in Latin America. Julio César González, the Cuban General coordinator of the Ibero-American Masculinity Networkstates, "Until we scrutinise men's social roles and the concept of masculinity, we'll just be drawing circles around the women victims of the system." After completing 20 years of research in gender studies he tried to implement his findings in the real world, but faced resistance from people who only wanted to continue with the traditional stereotypes. Although the Cuban authorities have allowed women to be integrated into once all-male domains, there is still a long way for women to go to reach full equality.

This organization is an NGO based in Mexico and in this case Ecudor, specifically to work with street children and their families. When I used to live in Ecuador I worked for this group for six months as a sort-of social worker. Working there I encountered many people matching the descriptions of those found in "Reason to Believe" chapter 1.

This organization is an NGO based in Mexico and in this case Ecudor, specifically to work with street children and their families. When I used to live in Ecuador I worked for this group for six months as a sort-of social worker. Working there I encountered many people matching the descriptions of those found in "Reason to Believe" chapter 1.

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.

This article is provided by conciliation resourced. The creators of the laws found in this article discuss topics on the agreement on identity and rights of indigenous people. They include identity of indegenous people, struggle against discrimination, and cultural, civil, political, social and economic rights. It is interesting to see these laws and wonder how often they are followed (not very often at all).

This BBC article contains a timeline of political, social, economical, and cultural changes in Guatemala from the 1500's to the present day. It marks from 1970 up until the end of the civil war as a time when human rights were violated. The postwar years mainly focus on political reform.

This webpage includes a basic timeline of Guatemala's history from the beginning of the Spanish colonization to the present. It outlines social-democratic reforms, violations of human rights, the end of the civil war, storm related deaths, murders, etc. This relates to our class because it provides an easy to read outline of Guatemala's history.

This sight documents the abuses done to homosexual couples in Mexico. I think this page gives good insight into how ashamed Mexican culture is of its gay community. The purpose of this organization is to seek social change through peaceful means but unfortunately it seems that simple letter writing campaigns will not stop discrimination on such a massive scale.

Bold move for Mexico due to its strong, cultural foundation in the Roman Catholic Church. Here, we watch as the religious opposes the social and vice versa. It's women's rights vs. Roman Catholic doctrine.

Mexico, the second most populous country in Latin America, has a critical need for contraception, but is unable to meet the demand due to social and economic factors. Access and education must be improved so that women may live in dignity—and equality with men.

This discussion talks about the "never say no" attitude of the macho Latin American culture. It also talks about the risks involved in this type of culture. In this article, Gonzales discusses the possibility of men taking on this macho attitude in order to be socially accepted by other men.

In most of Latin America, abortions are a crime, but this does not decrease the amount of abortions that are performed. Criminalizing abortion has become increasingly dangerous, especially in an area where there is little sex education and women are kept from using contraception. Up to 5,000 women die each year and thousands are hospitalized.

In most of the region of Latin America abortions are a crime, but criminalizing abortion doesn't decrease abortion rates and only endangers the lives of women. The abortion rate is far higher than in Western Europe or the United States. In Columbia, abortions are illegal even if a woman's life is in jeopardy. There is little sex education and social taboos keep unmarried women from exploring the options of contraception. Up to 5,000 women die each year from abortions in Latin America, and thousands more are hospitalized. In Cuba, however, abortion is legal on request. Latin Americans are looking at abortion as an issue of maternal mortality.

This aritcle discusses women in Latin American and how their education effects their fertility rate. Generally, poorer women who lack education have more children than richer women who had the chance of education. This is evidentally true for other cultures, but particularly for women in Latin America because men are very dominant and if a child is to be educated it is more likely to be the boy instead of a girl. The aritcle gives details about the essential need for women to have education, not only to break social bias against class, but also to promote development of countries and reducing fertility rates.

This cite is valuable because it has a large compilation of articles pertaining to a multitude of current issues in Venezuelan society. Such topics include; the economy, social change, internal and external politics, current events, etc.. There are audio recordings as well as the literary ones.

This article discusses the fact that Colombia has been considering offering equal rights to gay couples for a long time. In 2007 the bill passed "by 62-43 after a heated debate in the lower house". Gay couples receive the same rights to "social security benefits as heterosexual couples". Although a few regions have already passed similar bills in Latin America such as Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and Rio Grande do Sul (a province of Brazil), rights like these have not been passed as a whole nation.

in many countries hardest hit by HIV, the stigma of this disease is at least as powerful, if not more so, than in wealthy nations. Through the discussion of social and gender inequality, this article discusses the stigmas that are associated with AIDS and the anticipated harships that it creates. Also, I could not add a sticky note to this because it was a PDF

In the past decades, HIV infections are on the rise in Latin America and the Caribbean, however, Haiti, one of the countries hardest hit by the epidemic is witnessing falling infection rates. 2.2% about 190,000 Haitians are suffering from HIV/AIDS, according to UNAIDS. Infection rates are more slowly to decline in rural areas than in urban areas, but progress for battling the disease has been significant for a country with such high poverty levels. The percentage of pregnant women who have tested HIV positive has declined by half over the last ten years. The majority of the population, however, lacks proper sexual education. In countries where the prevalence rates are lower, the epidemic is concentrated among socially marginalized populations, such as gay males. Currently, Argentina, Brazil, Columbia and Mexico have the largest epidemic due partly to the fact that they have larger populations. Since Latin American and Caribbean nations are not a singular culture, attention to the HIV epidemic has not been homogeneous.

In December of 2005, a bus driving in Honduras was stopped by gunmen in the notorious street gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and had chosen their victims at random. The attack was meant as a protest generated towards the government's crackdown on gang activities. As the United States shifts its focus to the Middle East, it is ignoring a dangerous problem close to home, and the gangs have grown in power and numbers.

Gangs that started in the slums of the United States slowly shifted back to the homelands of these Central American members without warning local governments. An explosive growth in youth populations with social problems like that of poverty and unemployment are resulting in the the rapid spread of gangs north into Mexico and even back to the United States. Gangs are bringing in rampant crime, partaking in drug trade, and committing murders on innocent civilians. These gangs are threatening the strength of their weak government, who no longer know what to do to solve this ongoing issue that only seems to be getting worse.

In June 2009, Latin American health officials and United Nations bureaucrats agreed to continue implementing "comprehensive sexuality education starting in early childhood" throughout the region, including instruction in the use of condoms and anti-"homophobia" training, at a meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in Jamaica. Their goal is also to fight against sexual discrimination.