“Indigenous women are taking the lead to protect both the Earth and their own rights, long experience with the extraction process having taught them to see the two as linked. Oil drilling, they argue, has deep repercussions for their health and safety…
‘We have put ourselves at the forefront of the entire resistance,’ Gualinga told me, adding that the Ecuadorean government had “brutally abused” the indigenous women stepping forward by harassing and punishing them, often with crackdowns on protesters. In 2014, the military invaded Sarayaku land, and in 2015 indigenous protesters were beaten and tear-gassed by police during peaceful demonstrations.”