Mothers and Widows: Gendered Violence and the Birth of Female CSOs in Argentina and Guatemala

From the 1970s into the 1980s, Argentina and Guatemala were both ruled by ruthless military dictatorships that systematically killed and tortured men, women and children as a part of their respective wars on subversion. This violence created a generation of childless mothers and widows. This thesis analyzes the role of these women in the emergence of civil service organizations (CSOs) dedicated to protecting women’s rights: Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo in Argentina and Coordinadora Nacional de Viudas de Guatemala, the domestic and international success of each, and seeks to identify the factors that aided or inhibited the growth of these organizations.