The Nicaraguan Women's Movement after the comeback of the Revolutionary Heroes: Preventing and Responding to Violence against Women

Abstract

This thesis analyses the increasingly difficult situation for the Nicaraguan women‟s movement after the comeback of the heroes of the Revolution. I comparatively explore two women‟s organizations‟ goals, strategies and conceptualizations that are at play in the project of preventing and responding to violence against women. The organizations compared in this thesis are, the RMCV, a feminist organization which coordinates a nation-wide network of local organizations; and AMNLAE, which originated as part of the Nicaraguan revolution and is still influenced by its connection to the former revolutionary group and current political party, the FSLN. Through this research I discovered that the RMCV is mainly concerned with formulating a strategic and long-term solution to the problem of violence against women by emphasizing the transformation of state policies and institutional structures. AMNLAE, on the other hand, focuses on giving an immediate response to a pressing problem for individual women. Additionally, I found that the nature of the RMCV‟s and AMNLAE‟s responses to the problem of violence against women is influenced by whether they see violence as a consequence of personal or structural factors, and by their level of political autonomy.