Putting Machismo on Trial

Floridalma De la Paz didn’t want to get in trouble. A single mother living in Guatemala City, she needed to keep her job. She endured with a smile the unwanted lewd propositions of her boss. But when he backed her against a wall and began pawing her, she did the unthinkable. She called in the law.

By taking her supervisor to court, De la Paz was challenging the dominant culture in a country where there is no law against sexual harassment.

De la Paz was raised in a rural area, attended college and learned about her rights while taking courses in law. She found a job in a government office, the Social Security Institute, and would probably have had an uneventful bureaucratic life except for what she reticently called the “undignified way” in which her boss treated her.

She filed a complaint with the governmental Women’s Defense Office and through its efforts was able to keep her job, and, alas, her boss. The harassment began again and she filed a second complaint, this time with the Labor Ministry.

Justice this time? Not in the world of machismo. Managers at her office refused to allow the ministry inspectors to review personnel files. So De la Paz tried another avenue, the public prosecutor’s office. That too was a dead end.

So now the indomitable De la Paz has filed civil suit, arguing that her rights were violated under the United Nations women’s rights convention. A Guatemala judge has accepted the case and there will be a trial.

Sexual harassment happens everywhere, and is unacceptable anywhere. The more that women like de la Paz are willing to challenge such sanctioned male behavior, the better life will be for them and their daughters. Machismo is an old and tired culture. It deserves to die.