In response to the indigenous uprising, the Mexican government began a strategy of low-intensity warfare with the goal of creating confusion and terror to prevent or inhibit the political participation of indigenous groups. For Mayan women the presence of the Mexican army alongside their communities has had the biggest impact on their lives. They are afraid to go to the corn fields, to the river to bathe and wash clothes, to gather firewood or sell their handicrafts. Women complain of the military checkpoints where they are stopped for identification and information about the Zapatistas and catechists in their villages. Threats of a sexual nature, as well as rape, are common and are for the most part not reported.
Rumors feed a climate of tension that sometimes borders on terror.
Prostitution is on the rise as well as an increase in sexual diseases, alcoholism and drug addiction. Mothers express their concern for sons who frequent prostitutes and then encourage their spouses and sisters to prostitute themselves. Women in leadership roles Community organizing and human rights trainings are beginning to draw women out of the kitchen and fields. They are being trained in organizing, forming weaving cooperatives, livestock and vegetable collectives and small businesses. Trainings exploring their human rights as women and legal rights as citizens of Mexico have empowered others.