shared with thanks from .—It’s Going Down
On Sunday, February 23, hundreds of women marched in the northern Mexican city of Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora, as part of a recent wave of militant women’s protests in Mexico against the growing rate of femicides and violence against women in the country.
The march began in front of the museum at the University of Sonora. From there, the group headed toward downtown, where they painted the streets and shouted against gender violence and patriarchy. Arriving downtown, they set their sights on governmental
The walls of the governmental palace were redecorated with graffiti. The march then made its way to the building of the Supreme Court of Sonora. There, the front doors were torn down, windows were shattered, walls were graffitied and court paperwork was burned to ash.
The action lasted no more than two hours, but the point was made clear. The women of Hermosillo, of Sonora, of Mexico in general, have had enough of the violent reality they face on a daily basis. They’ve had enough of the fear of getting in a taxi cab, or walking in a dark alley at night. They’ve had enough of being whistled at, groped and touched on public transportation. They’ve had enough of having their compañeras, daughters, sisters, aunts and mothers, raped and killed. They’ve had enough of a government that delegitimizes and mocks their very real concerns.
Women are leading militant protests in Mexico, and should serve as an example for the rest of Mexican society and the world. To take seriously the task of seeking out and destroying all forms of domination, we must take seriously the destruction of patriarchy first and foremost.
The Hague, The Netherlands: Mexico Femicide State – Mexican Embassy Attacked with Red Paint
February 29, 2020 by actforfreedom
A solidarity action with women in Mexico has taken place in the Hague. Early in the morning of Feb 25, we marked the Mexican embassy with red paint, symbolizing the blood of the countless women that have been murdered.
In Mexico, an average of 10 women are killed every day, which is an increase of 3 compared to 7 per day in 2017, according to the Mexico office of UN Women. Mexico has the second highest rate of trans women being murdered in the world and sex-workers are also disproportionately targeted.
The murders of a 25-year-old woman and a 7-year-old girl in Mexico City have shocked the nation this month. Ingrid, 25, was stabbed, skinned, eviscerated and photos of her mutilated body were published in a newspaper. The girl, Fátima, was abducted from school, police officers delayed searching for her and later her body was found wrapped in a plastic bag.
These murders have triggered a rise of near-daily street protests, disruption of public services, fury on social media and demands for government actions against femicides -the crime of killing women or girls because of their gender-.
However, president Andrés Manuel López Obrador does not know how to respond to the issue and shows little patience for those who questioned him about the government’s commitment to fighting gender-based violence. In Mexico City, not much is done either. The government is more focused on cleaning graffities demanding justice and on using the police force to face women protesters, rather than acknowledging that the authorities are passive, complicit or even abusive toward women who try to report violence.
Met with such obstacles and forced to fend for themselves, women in Mexico do what they can to protect their own life and the lives of women around them. They are forming groups to demand justice and learn self-defense, to question long-held macho culture and to push the government into action.
Women are the ones who continue pointing out that the government, media and all other patriarchal institutions have an outstanding debt to them, a historical debt. This dept consists of a lot of damage that needs compensation and the guarantee of non-repetition. Until this dept is paid, women will fight for the dignity of all, for calling their names without violence or sorrow.
Filed under: Action, Anarchist Movement, Anti-Patriarchy, Northern Mexico, The State
shared with thanks from .. —It’s Going Down
The Free 