Approximately 75,000 people gathered in the center of Mexico City March 8 to protest a nationwide plague of femicide — the murder of women and girls, distinguished from the term “homicide” which is Latin for the killing of man.

“(The protest) was very touching. I really felt (attendees) tried to keep one another safe and be there for each other; no one said a slogan alone,” said Aya Trad, a high school student in Mexico City, in an interview with The Panther. “The phrase, ‘Alive they took them, alive we want them,’ (is) heard a lot in Mexico, but seeing the pictures of all the missing women and their families and hearing their names made saying (the phrase) very impactful.”

This protest marks the third year in a row that people have come to the center of the city on International Women’s Day to bring attention to the high rate of femicide and sexual violence experienced by women in the country and demand a solution.

The first of the three protests happened March 8, 2020. According to the local authorities, around 80,000 people attended the protest, making it one of the biggest protests the capital of Mexico has seen in years.

“When I went (to the protests), I felt a sense of union — like we all shared a purpose; I realized that we all share the same feelings, and that we’ve had enough,” said Cuevas Armendariz, who attended the March 2020 protest. “We don’t want to live with (violence) any longer. We want to have a little liberty and to live safely without worrying about what might happen.”

Previous to this protest, there were other peaceful demonstrations to pressure the government into paying more attention to the femicides. One of these demonstrations was painting the monument of the Angel of Independence Aug. 17, 2019 with messages condemning sexual violence and machismo.

“(Attending the protest) was a difficult experience, because many sad and frustrated women were fighting for the same goal,” said Victoria Alazo, a high school student in Mexico City, in an interview with The Panther. “I remember that many people warned me that the protest might turn violent before going, but once I was there, I was impressed by how safe I felt.”

The following day, there was a national strike with the motto, “the ninth nobody moves,” which encouraged women to stay home and disappear for a day to show what life without women would look like. That day, women left a void in schools, companies, public transit, supermarkets and other aspects of society. 

Despite all this, residents believe the president of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, continued to downplay the issue.

“(Lopez Obrador) hasn’t known how to handle (the protests),” Cuevas Armendariz said. “He’s shielding himself under the guise of wanting peace, but he hasn’t seen what (the movement) really means. He thinks that we are an opposition to his government, but what we’re asking is for violence against women to stop.”

The violence against women continued to worsen with the pandemic, increasing by 2.7% between 2020 and 2021. Still, Lopez Obrador insisted that the bond of the Mexican family would protect women from abuse and claimed that 90% of the over 6,000 calls made to a domestic abuse hotline were fake.

“Even though the reasons (for the protest) are tremendously horrible, I feel like the community that forms (during it) is something very powerful,” said Dominique Meziat, a high school student in Mexico City, in an interview with The Panther. “I feel like (protesting) is a very meaningful way of making change and supporting the (feminist movement).”

One initiative from the government that was released to prevent domestic abuse during the pandemic was a video instructing people to take 10 seconds to calm down during a stressful situation. This was widely criticized, though, for undermining the realities of domestic abuse that women face, so it was taken down.

“Going to the protest gave me a lot of hope, (because) despite the lack of reaction from the government, there are still people fighting with so much pasión, love and anger,” Meziat said. “The experience of going is something impressive, and I would recommend it to every woman who has the possibility and wants to do it.”

Before the second protest in 2021, the authorities prepared for it by placing a 3-meter-tall metal fence in front of national monuments and the National Palace to protect the structures from the demonstrators.

Various feminist collectives responded to this by painting over the fences with names of women who were victims of femicides and putting up flowers in their honor. Activists also projected four signs on the walls of the National Palace: “Mexico Feminicide,” “A Rapist Won’t Be Governor,” “Legal Abortion Now” and a heart.

“I find (Lopez Obrador’s response) insulting,” Trad said. “I think the lack of acknowledgment and indifference (from him) is what hurts the most, and I find the lack of action and dialogue very cruel.”

The morning of the March 8, 2021 protest, Lopez Obrador suggested that conservative groups co-opted the movement against him. This comment came simultaneous to Lopez Obrador’s endorsement of Morena party gubernatorial candidate Félix Salgado, a former Senator for the Mexican Republic who has been accused of rape and sexual abuse by multiple women in recent years.

“The way in which (Lopez Obrador) antagonizes the feminist movement is shocking and terrifying to me,” Alazo said. “He just tries to invalidate what (the feminists) are saying by turning them into an enemy of (his government). The violent manner in which ‘machismo’ is expressed terrifies me, and it is the reason why going out to protest is necessary.”

While the high attendance at the now-annual protests is very important in spreading awareness about Mexico’s ongoing femicide crisis, Cuevas Armendariz said she doesn’t think these physical demonstrations are the only places where change can occur. She spends a lot of time spreading the word on social media on what’s happening in Mexico as well as opening conversations on toxic masculinity and the consequences it may have. 

“I always try to open spaces for there to be a dialogue, because I think it’s important (to have those spaces), especially for people in Canada or the United States who don’t know what is happening in Latin America,” Cuevas Armendariz said. “(The problem of femicides in Mexico) is something people outside of Latin America need to know about.”