International Women’s Day in Mexico: Girls hit the streets to fight for their safety

On March 8th, in the developed countries, women are given flowers and the virtual world is overrun by pathetic confessions. In Mexico, windows are boarded up and monuments fortified. Angry women go to get justice.

According to statistics, an average of more than ten women are murdered every day in Mexico, and every year the authorities register around 1 000 "feminicidios", i.e. murders directly motivated by the fact that the victim is a woman.

In the past year, the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System recorded 3,754 women killed, a third of which, 947 cases, were investigated as femicida (see box), the rest (2,807) as "simple" homicide. Which makes last year the year with the second highest number of victims of this crime after 2019, which ended with 2,875 victims.

Femicide is the name given to the murder of a woman because of her gender. It is the most serious form of discrimination against women. This gender-based crime is usually preceded by prolonged threats, intimidation, domestic or sexual violence, etc. (Wiki)

Cases of brutality against women being committed by state agencies themselves, such as the police, are also rampant. According to campaigners, deep-rooted machismo, plus widespread impunity for perpetrators and inaction by authorities are to blame. The latter claim to be taking the necessary steps to remedy the situation, which they say is improving.

Reality, however, says otherwise. Women and men are therefore taking to the streets to seek justice. Every year, on International Women's Day, 8 March, tens of thousands of people march through the capital, Ciudad de México, which is symbolically bathed in purple or green for the day. The parade culminates in front of the presidential palace in the main square of the Zócalo. But the expression of support is also visible outside the parade, with posters calling for an end to the violence hanging all over the city and people across categories dressing in the colours mentioned.

Most of the rallies are peaceful, although accompanied by excited chanting. Nevertheless, they are accompanied by a heightened level of aggression and rioting, especially from the radical feminist core. Last year I went to document the event myself with my camera.