What is Velas

In this chapter, the authors analyze the relevant socio-demographic aspects of the indigenous population in Mexico and examine young women's access to sexual and reproductive health information and education in rural areas, as well as the context of discrimination and violence they face throughout their lives for being young, female, indigenous and from a low socio-economic class. The authors discuss the case of the binnizá women of Juchitán, Oaxaca, to show how they experience multiple forms of violence within their communities and resist the violence of the hegemonic medical system, which undermines indigenous knowledge and weakens the traditional medical systems that are part of the cultural and social survival of the communities.