On Friday , Mexican women throughout the country showed their support to the movement #NoMeCuidanMeViolan (They Don’t Take Care of Me, They Rape Me) by protesting to demand authorities safety for women.
Sexual violence
in Mexico is on the rise and the lack of action and impunity allowed by authorities have only worsened the problem. Every 6 minutes a Mexican woman is raped. 9 out of 10 sexual offenses are made by men. Most offenders are never punished and victims are often blamed for the situation.
The different organizers of the march asked women to bring pink glitter, preferably ecologic, for the event. On Monday , a group of women threw pink glitter at Jesús Orta , the head of the Public Security Ministry , because of alleged abuse of policemen against women in Mexico City , such as the alleged rape of a minor by four police officers in Azcapotzalco .
Some recommendations for those attending the protests were: planning escape routes, telling friends and family about attending the protest and asking them to “watch you,” as well as memorizing a telephone number in case of emergency, wearing comfortable clothes, carrying first aid kits, bringing water, having battery on their cellphones, and bringing their IDs.
In Mexico City , feminists started to arrive at “Glorieta de Insurgentes” in the Cuauhtémoc municipality at 18:00 .
Women were seen carrying banners with messages like “If they kill me, if they rape me, if they disappear me, destroy it all!”, “They are killing us and you do nothing,” “It’s going to fall! It’s going to fall!,” or “Not one less, we want justice.”
For its part, the local Commission for Human Rights informed that members of its staff accompanied the concentration that took place in the Río de Janeiro square.
Before the beginning of the march, the women who had gathered in “Glorieta de Insurgentes” started shouting “I do believe you, I do believe you” before advancing to Zona Rosa and incorporating to Paseo de la Reforma, thus beginning the march.
Although there was not an official number of the police officers deployed, it was known that female police officers of the group “Ateneas” would be accompanying the protest.
“We’re too many, we all suffer from sexual harassment; no woman is safe from it,” said one of the protesters.
During the gathering, protesters demanded justice. “If we want to be free of the state and this constant femicide living, we have to rip sexism of its privilege and make visible all (the kinds) of violence it causes,” said another of the protesters.
The march moved towards the building of the Citizen Security Ministry to walk over Liverpool street and to reincorporate to “Glorieta de Insurgentes.” Although the march was supposed to finish in “El Zócalo,” it concentrated on the streets of Zona Rosa.
Unfortunately, some groups of women committed vandalism by throwing stones , fire extinguishers, bombs , and firecrackers , as well as gases and paint. Some units of the Metrobus suffered damages , as well as the station “Insurgentes” which was closed due to severe damage. The subway station “Insurgentes” was also closed.
The police station in Florencia street also suffered damages by some groups that made wall writings, destroyed glasses and started a fire ; elements of the fire department controlled the situation.
Another group of nonconformists went to the Ángel de la Independencia Monument and also made wall writings, chanted slogans, and threw glitter.
The protest also took place in other states of the country like State of Mexico, Querétaro, Nuevo León, Puebla, Hidalgo, Chiapas, Guerrero, Michoacán, Guanajuato, Sinaloa, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Baja California, Quintana Roo, and Sonora.
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