Juntas Somos Todas

Since the beginning of the year (in just a little over two months) there have been 24 femicides in Oaxaca, and a total of 267 in all of México. Women are tired of living in fear, but the government continues to show indifference. Public outrage after the gruesome murders of a young woman and a 7-year-old girl led to the organization of a two-day national protest: first taking to the streets and then a day of silence, a paro nacional, to show the importance of women in society and the economy.

On March 8th, International Women's Day, women filled the streets of cities throughout Mexico demanding systemic change and justice for gender violence. On March 9th, they disappeared, as well.

Protestas de las mujeres frente al machismo y el feminicidio.

Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico

8 Marzo 2020

Before marching through the streets to demand justice and change, thousands of women gathered in front of the cemetery in Oaxaca to make an altar for missing and murdered compañeras.

As the march advanced, the city was plastered with public denunciations of violators in the region, graffiti, and art.

Visible demands for change.

In Oaxaca, four government vehicles were heavily vandalized by protesters, demonstrating the outrage felt by women throughout the state and the country at the incredibly high percentage of women who are victims of gender violence.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador claims the feminist denunciations are "right-wing distractions" to make him look

bad. His administration aims to curb the violence by influencing the "idealistic causes", but moral promotion has proven

to be ineffective, as cases of gender violence have skyrocketed during his presidency.

After the march, protesters and spectators gathered in the Zócalo (city center) to hear from several march leaders. Many people left flowers, candles, and the signs they had carried with them through the streets at the entrance to the cathedral.

An overwhelming number of women in the marches throughout Mexico expressed fear of being the next to go missing.

"If I don't come home tomorrow, mom,

if I don't come home for over a year,

stop looking for me,

and start screaming at the top of your lungs."

All that was left after the storm.