Women’s Resistance against an Extractivist Latin America

By Katia Fazio

“We are tired of being the women that must sustain our sick families. We are tired of being killed. We are tired of breathing death”

In the context of climate change, the looming energy crisis, and accelerated ambitions to decarbonise the global economy, extractivist industries have left a deep mark in Latin America. Nevertheless, the mark tends to be left unseen. The voices of protest are silenced by both industries and governments who benefit from destructive resource acquisition. One of the voices belong to women – an-often neglected actor in Latin American affairs, who are becoming a symbol of resistance against extractivism in the region.

The heightened demand for clean energy technologies and infrastructure increases the necessity of essential metals and minerals, which in turn leads to an unregulated rush for resource acquisition and extraction [Source]. Latin America holds approximately 40% of global reserves of technology metals like copper, nickel, cobalt and lithium among others, attracting the investment of companies worldwide to extract them [Source]. The majority of the extracted material is exported as a primary commodity to ‘first-world’ countries, such as China and the United States. China, in particular, has become the leading importer of Latin American technology metals globally [Source]. The invasive model of extractivism, however, carries with it dire environmental and social consequences. The contamination of environmental resources causes a gradual degradation of ecosystems and loss of biodiversity. This often turns into health hazards for people in the surrounding areas, as they consume water and air polluted by extractivist practices. Other impacts include deforestation, displacement of local populations, and the violation of human rights.

‘Extractivism’, importantly, has different implications for women than for men – and this has led to the widening of voices of those who have been so often shut down.

The male-oriented workforce in mines contributes to both a gendered division of labour and the marginalisation of women as political actors. Women tend to work in public service, built around extractive societies, and consequently with less pay than their male counterparts in mines [Source]. This perpetuates values of masculinity of a more harmful nature within extractivist societies, increasing alcohol and drug consumption which has intensified household violence and abuse in both the private and the public sector. Moreover, the labour of caretaking is more likely to fall on women when dealing with health-related problems attributed to extractivist practices and contamination. Even simple things as water acquisition are unequally distributed, as women are usually those held responsible to go and obtain clean water if local water is polluted [Source].

While men work in the mines, women are often left behind, responsible for picking up the pieces.

These issues, including the health hazards attributed to extractivist societies, are precisely what the women in Huasco, Chile, denounced on the 17th of December 2022 by stopping all traffic connecting extractivist industries to the rest of the country [Source]. ‘We are tired of being the women that must sustain our sick families. We are tired of being killed. We are tired of breathing death’, the article writes.

Similar is the case of Peruvian women, who organised in early 2022 to denounce the extractivist project of AntaKori. The intensity of the project had detrimental effects on the environment, and presented serious health hazards to the local population. Local water sources were contaminated with lead, and traces of the heavy metals were found in the bodies of over 370 children, according to the Peruvian Health Ministry [Source]. The organisational body of the protests highlights the importance of women in the resistance movement against extractivist practices – the violation of women’s rights is put in parallel to the violation of environmental rights.

In Ecuador, a group of indigenous women marched to the presidential palace to denounce the violence and destruction of extractivist practices. The protest argued that indigenous women are more vulnerable to the detrimental impacts of extractivism as, on top, they face exploitation, racism, and discrimination [Source]. Additionally, the resistance was directed towards the government rather than the industry itself: it denounced the lack of governmental action and regulation in front of the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

It would be naïve to presume that extractivist industries will halt their operations. Indeed, the acquisition of resources has become an issue of national security for certain states, such as the United States and the European Union [Source]. Moreover, technology metals are paramount in effectuating the shift towards clean energy and infrastructure. This is a high-priority objective that several countries are rushing to achieve, and this rush requires a certain volume and intensity of extractivist activities. However, it cannot be that reaching a goal of clean technology must come at the cost of environmental degradation and social risk and violence.

Women are a central aspect to the fight against the high intensity of extractivist industries. As women’s rights are more vulnerable within extractivist communities, it is more often their denouncement of such practices that make an impact. While their resistance covers many facets, this article would like to highlight the common goal of environmental protection. Even though ‘ideal’ environmental protection would require the ceasing of all extractive activities, there are certain steps that could be taken that would provide more protection towards such practices that would lessen the risk towards the environment and women. Such steps include better regulation of extractivist practices, the development of projects in isolated areas, providing more inclusive roles for women in extractivist societies, and requiring a certain level of environmental protection to lessen the impact on biodiversity and the ecosystem.

Women should not have to be responsible for their family members, sick due to water and air pollution. They should not be killed for denouncing the detrimental impact of extractivist practices on their health – be this for contamination or for violence and abuse. They should not have to breathe death. And their voices must be heard.