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

在我们之前的项目（“文化翻译：秘鲁土著权利的立法调解”）中，我们研究了目前由国家资助的土著语言笔译和口译服务及其应用。这项规定采取由文化部土著语文司协调的培训方案的形式。该课程的毕业生（会说秘鲁47种土著语言中的一些语言）将成为国家土著语言翻译和口译员注册局（Howard， de Pedro Ricoy和Andrade Ciudad，即将于2017年出版）的成员，并能够作为该领域的认证专业人员工作。2011年《语言法》为这些国家一级的发展提供了框架，该法保障土著人民在事先协商过程中获得笔译和口译的权利，以及获得公共服务（例如司法和卫生）的权利。秘鲁国内立法源于劳工组织1989年《土著和部落人民公约》（第169号），该公约第30条规定土著人民有权要求政府"采取措施（…）使[土著人民]了解他们的权利和义务，特别是在劳动、经济机会、教育和卫生事项、社会福利以及本公约赋予他们的权利方面。[…必要时，应通过书面翻译和使用这些民族的语言进行大众传播。”我们的研究伙伴非政府组织Servicios Educativos Rurales （SER）在研究过程中引起了我们的注意，其中一个意想不到的发现是，与我们一起工作的许多土著妇女，没有接受过ILD培训，因此不是注册专业人员，从事语言中介活动，以满足社区中其他妇女的沟通需求。与男性相比，土著妇女往往不太会说两种语言，而且可能缺乏必要的西班牙语工作理解，以便与外部代理人(例如。卫生、环境和发展工作者)。相关妇女（被SER称为“社会口译员”）在SER的支持下一直在围绕两个关键领域开展这些活动：-委员会记录1996年至2000年间遭受强制绝育的妇女的证词，这一问题在2015年被正式认定为全国关注的问题。根据拉丁美洲和加勒比妇女权利委员会（CLADEM）的数据，近31.5万名妇女（其中大多数是土著妇女）接受了绝育手术，其中只有10%的人表示同意。由于正在为受影响的妇女寻求充分的补救，社会口译员正在与文化部、司法和人权部合作，以便建立案件登记册。-在政治上推动承认农村地区土著妇女为其社区的正式成员，使她们有权在社区大会上就有关公共土地和资源的决定进行投票。这也涉及与秘鲁安第斯和亚马逊土著妇女全国组织协调修订1982年《农村社区法》的政策倡议。社会翻译在这一过程中发挥着关键作用，通过提高妇女的意识并为她们提供相关培训。我们的项目将聚焦社会口译员在上述两个领域的作用，采用一系列方法和产出，旨在引起公众的关注，并为他们的活动提供支持。她们的基层工作没有像秘鲁国家自上而下的规定那样受到同样程度的关注或认可，但她们以切实的方式努力保护土著妇女的人权。她们的活动可以成为秘鲁和拉丁美洲区域妇女权利未来发展的典范。

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.