8M: Women demand an end to femicide in Mexico

On T hursday, March 8, over 2,000 women marched along Reforma Avenue in Mexico City demanding an end to femicide in Mexico, at the same time they made an urgent call for gender equality in the country.

Mexico City's demonstration started at 16:30 at the Angel of Independence Monument heading to the Zócalo , the main square in the city.

“Since I was a child, I've always heard of dead women in this country. I've grew surrounded by femicide all my life. At first, it was Ciudad Juárez alone, today it is Ecatepec, Mexico City, the whole country," said one of the demonstrators, drama student María Hernández Cruz while holding a banner which read: “There are seven femicides a day in Mexico.”

A few meters away from her, Gloria Mozqueda , a high school student at UNAM's Preparatoria 6 said that it is not enough to give "beautiful" speeches on this day, the authorities should implement measures that prevent femicide and sexual harassment once and for all.

In unison, women around the world came together in gatherings large and small on Thursday to mark International Women’s Day with a call for gender equality in both joyous celebrations and angry protests.

In Saudi Arabia , a group of women whooped and cheered as they marked International Women’s Day by exercising a recently acquired freedom: the right to go for a jog.

In Spain , women went on a nationwide strike and held hundreds of rallies, closing many main roads and squares.

In Turkey’s Hatay province , near the Syrian border, women wept as they sat on the ground, their hands bound with scarves, to show solidarity with women imprisoned in Syria. Others waved flags, chanting against President Bashar al-Assad: “Murderer Assad, evacuate the prisons!”

In Manila , more than a thousand activists marched, calling President Rodrigo Duterte a “macho-fascist” for his lewd comments and treatment of his female critics.

The day had extra resonance this year after widespread sexual abuse accusations in Hollywood sparked the #MeToo movement which feminists hope signals one of the most significant shifts toward equal rights in decades.

sg