In recent months, Mexican women have staged massive protests against femicide and to demand justice and equality . On March 8, on International Women’s Day , around 80,000 women marched through Mexico city and hundreds more protested in other cities.
As it announced weeks ago, women planned to stage a national strike and withdraw from public life on March 9 , in order, however, not every woman was able to join the demonstration .
Although millions of women across Mexico stayed home from factories , offices , and schools on Monday, some showed up to their jobs and said working was their own kind of protest.
The national strike, called “a day without us,” was intended to show what life would be like if women vanished from society.
In Ecatepec , a working-class suburb located in the state of Mexico and part of the metropolitan area, which is one of the most dangerous places for women , several women interviewed by Reuters said they saw Mexico’s growing feminist movement as positive but would not participate in the strike .
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Beauty salon owner Alma Delia Díaz, 45, said she supported the feminist movement, not least because she herself had been the victim of a kidnapping from which she had escaped. However, she said staying at home did not send the right message for her.
“Yes, I support the movement but will do so by working,” she said.
Likewise, Yasmín Rodríguez, 18, said she worked because she believes in gender equality and sees working itself as a statement against the violence in Ecatepec .
“Working in Ecatepec isn’t easy. The violence towards women around here worries me. I travel from Tecamac every day, and yes, it makes me nervous,” she said.
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The protests are focused on a surge in femicides , a hate crime motivated by misogyny . These increased 137% in the past five years, government statistics show, as cartel violence pushed the national murder tally to record heights. Moreover, most violent crimes go unsolved.
Other women said they would have liked to take part, but could not afford to lose a day’s wage .
María Guadalupe, 45, said that she agreed with the strike and would have liked to participate but that she could not skip work because she needed the MXN $150 wage to support her two grandchildren.
Florist María Trinidad Pérez also supported the strike but said that she had to come to work to look after her shop.
“I won’t take part in it because I don’t want to neglect my flowers. If I don’t come, they dry up and die,” she said.
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