Cuzco, Peru is an ancient capital of the Incan empire and a city where two out of three women suffer from sexual or physical violence, according to the World Health Organization. In fact, Cuzco retains one of the world’s highest rates of violence against women.

In 1999, one group began amission to turn back this trend. Today, CODECC (Coordinadora Departamental de Defensorías Comunitarias del Cusco) boasts over 500 members and volunteers, 25 percent of which are male.

CODECC advocates and empowers victims of violence by helping report incidents and by offering support through the legal process. The group currently has 65 units throughout six provinces.

Volunteer Elsa Mamani told IPS that in many cases where, “[Victims have been] threatened by aggressors, the police are not very sympathetic, and they’ll just write anything they want in the report. If a woman is beaten by her husband, they sometimes write up the report as if it were a case of mutual physical aggression.”

CODECC has gained international recognition and received awards from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

“CODECC offers us an opportunity to better ourselves, to open up new spaces, give our opinions and say what we feel. This helps us recover our self-esteem. [This is the only way we] will win the battle against violence that is as ancient as our culture,” Mamani told IPS.

Cuzco Women Stand Up to Violence-IPS