Country of Origin:
Bolivia
WLS Award:
2008-2009
About:
Graduate Program: Master’s program in Multiple Leaderships of Indigenous Women and of the Working Class from the Universidad La Cordillera, Bolivia
Background & Goals: Julieta Elisa Paredes Carvajal is a member of the Aymara indigenous people. Carvajal has written multiple books, and coordinated and led various workshops on sexuality and feminism particularly geared toward indigenous experience. Carvajal served as a panelist at the Latin American Lesbian Feminist Encounter in Chile in 2007 and has worked for a variety of NGOs including Women for Equity and Equality (AMUPEI), the Center for the Defense of Culture (CEDEC), and the Ministry of Justice’s Vice-Ministry of Gender and Generational Affairs. Carvajal is a founder of the Mujeres Creando community as well as the Bolivian Feminist Assembly and works toward reforming policies impacting the human rights of indigenous women and homosexuals in Bolivia. From her studies, Carvajal hoped to gain a conceptual framework to assist her in creating public policies for women in Bolivia and to learn her indigenous language.
Post-Degree Projects: Julieta Carvajal finished her degree at the Universidad La Cordillera and is continuing with seminars for the master’s program of the Regional Training Program on Gender and Public Policies (PRIGEPP) at the Latin American School of Social Sciences (FLACSO) in Argentina. PRIGEPP’s aim is to “provide professionals from different countries and backgrounds working in government agencies, NGOs, international organizations and academic settings with a solid, up-to-date and multidisciplinary knowledge of gender theory and its uses in policy analysis, management and assessment.”
Carvajal hoped that the papers she develops for PRIGEPP will contribute to supporting the indigenous women of her town and the construction of a feminist movement in her community. She continues fighting for the rights of indigenous women via various means including street activism.
