Tired of the growing violence against them, women commemorated their day on Monday, March 8th, by demanding an end to femicides, insecurity, and gender inequality in one of the worst countries to be a woman, according to international organizations.
On the way to the Historic Center of Mexico City, hundreds of protesters dressed in black and wearing purple and green scarves protested with chants and banners. They beat the fences set up to cut them off while, on the other side, police officers threw smoke bombs at them.
“I am here to raise my voice. For justice to be done. Yesterday it was my daughter, tomorrow it could be another girl, ”said Irma Quesada, 39, who related that her 12-year-old daughter was raped last week.
The minor is hospitalized since, according to Quesada, when the rapist was unable to kill her, he stabbed her face. The heartbroken mother maintained that the alleged aggressor is in custody, but that the authorities have told her that there is “not enough evidence” to incriminate him.
‘YES WE CAN’
In the afternoon, shouting “yes we can”, the protesters tore down part of the metal wall that the government placed around the National Palace, which is the residence of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, with the intention of protecting the building from the protest by the International Women’s Day.
Thousands of women came to the Zócalo and demolished several metal fences that form the protective wall, an infrastructure that has generated controversy in the country for its symbolism in the face of feminist demands.
The capital’s police, whose vigilance groups for the protest are made up exclusively of women, responded to the attempt to advance towards the National Palace by throwing pepper spray at them, as the protesters crowded around the demolished wall.
In Mexico, 10 women are murdered every day, according to official figures. Of that total, less than 30% of the crimes are investigated as femicides and more than half of them go unpunished. In addition, six sexual crimes are reported every hour.
The López Obrador government assured this Monday that it has taken action on the matter and showed progress in its strategy to reduce gender violence, although the Secretary of the Interior, Olga Sánchez Cordero, acknowledged that “there is still a debt.”
The women have pointed out to the president, a 67-year-old leftist, of not doing much and even protecting those accused of alleged rapes, such as Félix Salgado Macedonio, Morena’s candidate for governor of Guerrero.
The authorities of Mexico City reported that some 1,700 policewomen were guarding the march.
Hours before the demonstrations for Women’s Day, the Center of Mexico City woke up with reinforced security and some accesses closed.
The fence, criticized by the feminist movement as a symbol of repression, became a tribute to the victims of feminicide over the weekend, with flowers and graffiti.
Last year Mexico registered 967 femicides, 16,545 rape crimes and a record of more than 260,000 emergency calls related to violence against women.
Source: Forbes Mexico
