Yakumama  – how women’s movements link culture, science and legal strategies to protect rivers

Key findings from this study

• The study found that women-led organizations employed four distinct strategies: cultural expression through photography and weaving, social media and artistic interventions with local ordinances, constitutional litigation and reforms, and victim-to-activist transformation through education.
• The authors report that judicial decisions granted civil society organizations river guardian status with extensive responsibilities but no clear financial resources to fulfill mandated duties.
• The research demonstrates that effective river restoration requires integrating culture, science, political advocacy, and law while respecting rivers as living entities rather than objects.

Overview

Women-led civil society organizations in Quito, Ecuador have mobilized to address severe river contamination through a multi-strategy approach that combines cultural engagement, scientific evidence, legal action, and political advocacy. These activists, termed yakumama (women water guardians in Kichwa), work within the Rights of Nature legal paradigm established in Ecuador's constitution, which recognizes rivers as subjects of rights rather than objects. Four organizations—River Spirit, San Pedro River Collective, Women for Water, and the Ravines Collective—have pursued legal personhood for the Monjas and Machángara Rivers, resulting in two significant judicial decisions over the past five years. The Machángara ruling established a novel legal designation by appointing civil society organizations as river guardians, granting extensive responsibilities without corresponding financial resources. These movements operate within a political-economic context that prioritizes extractive industries, creating tension between constitutional rights of nature and actual implementation. The study examines how these groups integrate ontological frameworks, scientific documentation, and civic empowerment to challenge governmental inaction and compel authorities to fulfill environmental protection obligations.

Methods and approach

The research drew on data from the RIOS25 workshop, designed to extract and systematize narratives and strategies from activists advocating for legal personhood of polluted rivers. Participatory methods included personal storytelling, visual timelines, strategy mapping, and collective visioning exercises. The workshop engaged women leaders from four civil society organizations working to protect the Monjas and Machángara Rivers in Quito. Data collection focused on documenting the values, challenges, and innovative actions employed by each organization in their river protection efforts. The methodological framework positioned social movements within critical ecology theory, examining their influence on conservation and restoration initiatives. The research analyzed how activists employed conscientization processes—linking science and community action to promote consciousness raising and political pressure. The study documented organization-specific strategies: River Spirit's use of photography and symbolic weaving, the San Pedro Collective's deployment of social media and art alongside local ordinances, Women for Water's pursuit of constitutional reforms and litigation, and the Ravines Collective's transformation of contamination victims into activists through education and legal action.

Results

The participating organizations demonstrated distinct yet complementary approaches to river protection. River Spirit employed cultural expression through photography and symbolic weaving to create emotional connections with contaminated waterways. The San Pedro River Collective leveraged social media, artistic interventions, and local ordinances to mobilize public engagement and regulatory action. Women for Water pursued high-level legal strategies including constitutional reforms and litigation to establish legal precedents for river rights. The Ravines Collective focused on transforming individuals affected by pollution into active participants through education and legal empowerment initiatives. Across all groups, participants emphasized personal connection, memory, resistance, and hope as foundational elements of their activism. The strategies reflected a deliberate integration of ontological frameworks—using culture to mobilize citizen interest—with scientific documentation including water quality analyses, participatory mapping, and ecosystem interdependence studies. This evidence served dual purposes in legal proceedings and public media campaigns. The judicial outcomes included the Monjas River case, which framed river rights through an anthropocentric lens linking urban rights with nature rights, and the Machángara River case, which designated civil society organizations as river guardians despite providing no clear funding mechanism for their mandated responsibilities.

Implications

River restoration in contaminated urban environments requires simultaneous engagement across cultural, scientific, legal, and political domains rather than relying on any single intervention strategy. The concept of rivers as living entities capable of holding legal personhood challenges traditional environmental governance frameworks that position nature as object rather than subject. The designation of civil society organizations as river guardians creates institutional recognition but raises questions about resource allocation and enforcement capacity when responsibilities exceed available funding. The effectiveness of fluvial personhood depends on social movements' ability to convert judicial decisions into community monitoring systems and restoration financing while challenging neo-extractive political-economic regimes that continue shaping water and territorial decisions. Women's leadership in these movements reflects distinct approaches emphasizing cultural connection, symbolic action, and victim-to-activist transformation alongside traditional advocacy methods. The conscientization process—linking scientific evidence with community mobilization—demonstrates how civil society can compel governmental accountability when formal authorities fail environmental protection mandates. These movements operate within fundamental contradictions between constitutional environmental rights and extractive economic priorities, requiring sustained pressure to translate legal victories into material improvements in river ecosystem health.

Scope and limitations

This summary is based on the study abstract and available metadata. It does not include a full analysis of the complete paper, supplementary materials, or underlying datasets unless explicitly stated. Findings should be interpreted in the context of the original publication.