Daniella Flores | News Editor and Publicity Manager
March 17, 2023
Last Tuesday, thousands of women took to the streets in Mexico City demanding an end to gender-based killings. These women believe that the killings are rooted in a culture of machismo and urge the government to protect them.
These women marched down Paseo de la Reforma, directly translating to “reform way” and chanted, “Not one more assassination!”
In recent years, the feminist movement has become much more prominent across Latin America, with this protest in particular focused on femicide – a term used to describe the killing of women based on their gender.
“It is concerning the number of femicides that happen in Mexico,” said San Clemente High School senior Tessa Campbell. “But also just in Latin America as a whole.”
As of last year, the Mexican government has accounted for 1,006 homicides. However, activists say that the real number which the government will not disclose is even higher.
A report conducted by Amnesty International has found that in 2021, Mexican authorities have failed to conduct tests to determine whether a victim has also been sexually assaulted, a factor in many femicides.
In other cities, such as San Miguel de Allende, the water fountains of the city were dyed red to represent the blood of the people who have been killed.
In Argentina, their protest made national headlines when a 20-year-old woman was gang-raped in the Palerno neighborhood of Bueno Aires.
Days before the protest in Mexico City, officials erected barriers in front of the national palace in preparation. President Andres Manuel López Obrador warned that the women with the intent of attacking his government were arming themselves with hammers and “preparing Molotov cocktails.”
He even went on to discuss that their form of protest was not even feminism and that it was a reactionary position against his government and against the “politics of transformation.”
“It is scary that women have to deal with this in Mexico,” SCHS freshman Ava Echternach said. “I really hope that they can fix this issue.”
Hundreds of female police officers marched alongside the protesters. Many of these activists, covered with black cloths across their faces, spray-painted statues with the gender symbol for women. Once the protest reached the Zocalo, the city central square, they banged on barricades in front of the National Palace and lit small bonfires.
These activists argued that their tactics are justified in a country where the murder of women by femicide is not acknowledged.
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