Women have an important role in indigenous communities. They are seen as essential for life and survival of families and community in Acteal. Women obtained strong leadership roles within the Zapatista movement as well. The matriarchal structure of indigenous movements is a resistance against politic, military, and economic power monopolized by males in government. The indigenous people of Chiapas created an alternative to the patriarchial system.

The perpetrators of the violence in Acteal sought to shame the powerful roles of women in the community. 32 of the 45 killed were women and 5 of them were pregnant. The paramilitaries utilized a common weapon of war—by killing women and children, they were exercising political extermination and murdering future generations. Also, by murdering the unborn children of pregnant women, they seek to take life the seed of future generationas of indigenous people. The idea is that you take the “mothers of Acteal” and their children away and the community is left without its cycle of life.

In order to combat the death and trauma of the massacre, the sought to create new life. The formation of new kinship is an act of therapy in that it helps strengthen the relationships that have been broken in the community.