Mexican Women Protest Femicide

Women’s rights activists protest rising femicide cases in front of Mexico City’s National Palace. (Wikipedia Commons)

In honor of International Women’s Day, thousands of women in Mexico City took to the streets on March 8 to demand that the government take action against the rising case numbers of femicide. Police responded with riot shields and tear gas, injuring 81 people.

The protest occurred in Plaza del Zócalo, the capital city’s main square, which is home to the National Palace. Police created a 3-meter high barrier around the National Palace in order to deter protestors from breaching the building.

The local government claimed that this barrier was a “wall of peace,” but women’s rights groups argued it was an infringement on their right to protest. To remind the government of the frequent femicide cases, these groups filled the wall with the names of the 939 recorded victims of femicide this past year.

The thousands of women who participated in the protest in front of the National Palace collectively appeared as a sea of violet, the signature color of the fight against gender violence. The message of unity rebuked the Palace’s resident, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO).

During his presidential run in 2018, AMLO promised gender equality and fewer femicides. However, Mexico still has the second-highest femicide rate in Latin America after Brazil, and gender-based violence has only increased during his time in office. In 2020, there were 10.5 recorded cases of femicide per day on average, and calls for help due to domestic violence exacerbated by the COVID-19 lockdown increased by 39 percent.

Women and parents with daughters grow increasingly fearful of these rising attacks. One survey revealed that more than 66 percent of Mexican women experienced gender-based violence at some point in their lives, likely an underrepresentation of the actual proportion.

Meanwhile, Obrador continues to show disdain towards women’s rights groups. He recently blamed the increasing cases of femicide on figure misrepresentation and even claimed they were an attempt to undermine his government. Furthermore, he showed contempt towards the women’s rights activists and asserted that the protests on Monday did not have legitimate backing.

Many who did not attend the protests on Monday instead chose to stay home from work as a reminder of the importance of the women lost through femicide. Several kinds of workspaces primarily run by women, such as subway ticket offices, remained closed on Monday due to the lack of employees. Together, the women created the hashtag #UnDíaSinNosotras (a day without us) and pushed made it trend on Twitter.