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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 source is about the widespread sexual exploitation of underage girls in Paraguay, and the systemic exploitation of women is closely related to how we construct our views of masculinity.

Lawmakers recently voted to extend adoption rights to gay couples in Uruguay, the latest measure to relax laws on homosexuality that has drawn criticism from Roman Catholic churches. Members of Congress said the law made Uruguay the first country in Latin America to permit gay couples to adopt. However, gay marriage still remains illegal, which means they cannot adopt jointly as a couple.

Los Angeles police arrested over forty-five people in a gang "suspected of killing a sheriff's deputy and murdering rivals". Among them were a corrections officer who was accused of involvement and assisting imprisoned members as well as those directly affiliated with the gang. The search to incarcerate the L.A. gang began when they opened fire on police and one man by the name of Daniel Leon was shot to death. In return, the gang members shot Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Jun Escalante in front of his parent's home. The inditement is a huge step in the right direction considering the level of fright the gang and its values and violent actions have instilled in the community.

A former army general , Alvaro Colom, lost his battle for the country's presidency on Sunday night. The voters rejected his plan to use an iron fist to control the high murder right. Alvaro Colon won istead, he had made fighting poverty his campaign's centerpiece.

This article discusses the civil unrest in the country of Venezuela between Governor César Pérez and President Chávez. The governor claims that the government is not doing anything to prevent the rebels from Colombia from crossing the border and only wished to keep out those supporting right-wing agendas. Not only has the President allowed leftist groups to cross the border unchecked but he has limited the access to weapons of local police to keep them from taking action against the guerillas. The constant dispute between the government, local government, and the leftist Colombian rebels has caused violence in the region along the border including deaths.

The "Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation," formally known as "the School of the Americas" is a United States Department of Defense facility in Fort Benning, Georgia. The school is responsible for training a multitude of Latin American soldiers and policeman, many of whom have been responsible for a number of human rights violations. Graduates from the school include Guatemala's Efraín Ríos Montt, one of the most notorious generals of the Guatemalan army and president during part of the civil war. The SOA Watch is an advocacy organization formed in protest of the training methods utilized by the WHISC, including classes on torture and interrogation, jungle warfare, and how to preform a military Coup d'états.

This report, from Guatemala's Historical Clarification Commission, completed 25 Februrary 1999, discusses the human rights violations of the internal armed conflict. However, as of 7 August 2009, Amnesty International reported that many of the recommendations of this document have not been heeded, and the marginalization of indigenous peoples has not been rectified.

This organization is involved in the discovery of bodies found in Guatemala with the express purpose of reconstructing recent history and uncovering human rights violations which occurred.

The United Nations commission issued a summary in 1999 summarizing the claim made by the Guatemalan government that the atrocities committed during the Guatemalan civil wars were carried out by subordinate soldiers; this claim was without foundation. The statements made in the commission's conclusion advocates for a restructuring of the Guatemalan military system as well as the establishment of a commission that is under the president's authority for the purpose of maintaining a just military and observational component that monitors military officials conduct during periods of armed conflict. According to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan the restructuring of the Guatemalan government and military systems is a milestone for Guatemala. Annan further emphasizes the usage of Guatemala as an example for the world as it highlights the importance of nations and governments to recognize history plagued with violence and flagrant violations of human rights because in doing so it will guarantees a smoother path towards peace and stability.

This article discusses the views and reality of abortions happening in the hospitals and behind the scenes in Latin America. Many different issues are brought up on abortion, such as that of religious and health, showing various opinions. The article also talks about possible solutions through sex education and birth control and also the cultural reality of these solutions.

This article is from 2008, one year after Mexico City legalized abortions. It talks about the continuing difficulties for poor women to receive safe abortions, even though they had been legalized. Women complained about long lines at understaffed public clinics, hostile treatment from hospital workers who opposed abortion, and unfair bureaucratic hurdles which made it difficult or impossible for them to get the procedure done. At the time this article was written, the abortion law was being challenged in the Supreme Court by the conservative government.

This article presents the approximate levels of induced abortion in six Latin American countries- Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Peru. Through calculated data on the hospitalization of women's abortion complications, an estimated 550,000 women are hospitalized a year. To read more about the complications and calculations go here!

This article discusses how abortion has not only become an issue of "maternal morality, but maternal mortality". Since many women have denied permission to get abortions, they find others to give them the abortion or they will even do it themselves, putting their lives at risk. In this article, we see the consequences of the absence of sexual education, reproductive health resources, and family planning organizations for women.

Mexico City bus system promotes gender inequality,

This article is about contraception education in Brazil

This website offers an in-depth definition of machismo, how it was constructed and how it affects feminism. This article also explores the causes of the "Macho man". Mostly however, this article discusses the affects of the "Machismo" on women's identities over the years.