Improving women's lives through the role of female social interpreters in rural Peru

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In our previous project ("Translating Cultures: the legislated mediation of indigenous rights in Peru"), we researched current State-sponsored provision for translation and interpreting services in indigenous languages and its application. This provision takes the form of a training programme coordinated by the Indigenous Languages Division (ILD) of the Ministry of Culture. Graduates from the programme (speakers of some of Peru's 47 indigenous languages) become members of the National Register of Translators and Interpreters in Indigenous Languages (Howard, de Pedro Ricoy and Andrade Ciudad, forthcoming 2017) and are able to work as accredited professionals in this area. These State-level developments are framed by the 2011 Languages Act, which guarantees the right of indigenous peoples to translation and interpreting in Prior Consultation processes and access to public services (e.g. justice and health). The Peruvian domestic legislation arises from the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), whose Article 30 enshrines the right of indigenous peoples to have Governments "adopt measures (...) to make known to [the peoples] their rights and duties, especially in regard to labour, economic opportunities, education and health matters, social welfare and their rights deriving from this Convention. [...] If necessary, this shall be done by means of written translations and through the use of mass communications in the languages of these peoples." An unexpected finding that emerged from our research and to which our Research Partner, the NGO Servicios Educativos Rurales (SER), drew our attention in the process, is that many of the indigenous women with whom they work, who have not followed the ILD training and are not, therefore, registered professionals, undertake language-brokering activities to serve the communication needs of fellow women in their communities. It is often the case that indigenous women, by contrast with men, are less bilingual and may lack the working understanding of Spanish needed in order to engage with outside agents (eg. health, environmental, and development workers).The women in question (referred to by SER as "social interpreters") have been developing these activities with SER's support, around two key areas:- The Commission to record the testimonies of women subjected to forcible sterilisation between 1996 and 2000, an issue officially recognised as being of national concern in 2015. Nearly 315,000 women, most of them indigenous, were subjected to sterilisation, of which only 10% gave their consent, according to the Latin American and Caribbean Commission for the Rights of Women (CLADEM). As full redress is being sought for the affected women, the social interpreters are collaborating with the Ministries of Culture and of Justice and Human Rights, in order to create a register of the cases.- The political drive for recognition of indigenous women in rural areas as full members of their communities, entitling them to vote in community assemblies on decisions regarding communal land and resources. This also relates to policy initiatives to amend the 1982 Rural Communities Act, coordinated with ONAMIAP (Peruvian National Organisation of Indigenous Andean and Amazonian Women). The social translators play a key role in these processes, by raising awareness among women and providing relevant training for them.Our project will throw a spotlight on the role of the social interpreters in the above two areas, using a range of methods and outputs designed to draw public attention to, and provide support for, their activities. Their grassroots work has not enjoyed the same levels of visibility or recognition as the top-down provision established by the Peruvian State, yet they work to protect the human rights of indigenous women in tangible ways. Their activity can be an exemplar for future developments concerning women's rights in Peru and the Latin American region.