Women demonstrate in northern Mexico against disappearances, violence
Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Apr 30 (EFE).- Dozens of women held a peaceful rally on Saturday against gender-based violence and disappearances in Ciudad Juarez, in the state of Chihuahua, bordering the United States.
The protest march kicked off in the city’s downtown area of the city where the demonstrators expressed their dissatisfaction with the lack of government response to these problems.
The women, dressed in black and purple, wore cardboard and blankets with slogans such as “¡Grito por las que ya no tienen voz!” (I shout for those who no longer have a voice!), and “¡Todos deberíamos ser feministas!” (We should all be feminists!).
“It is important to raise awareness about the situation we live in, we are among the most violent cities in the world and it was important that we join in this event today,” Violeta, an activists who participated in the demonstration, told EFE.
She underlined it was important for the government to “do its job and have an interest in these missing women,” and asked the authorities to “have empathy,” regarding an increase in violence and the need for justice in these femicide cases.
Cinthya Ruiz, another protester, said the goal of the event was to commemorate all the missing and murdered women, and underlined the need to do away with impunity in such cases.
The demonstration was also attended by Reina de la Torre Sanchez, mother of Isabel Cabanillas, a young woman who was murdered on Jan.18, 2020 in the city.
“I’m here because one of my daughters was killed, I have two teenagers and we’re in a situation where you kill or get killed. I prefer to take a daughter out of prison, because I will not be able to take her out of a grave,” she told EFE.
Later, candles were lit and purple flowers were laid to remember the women that still remain missing.
On Monday, Karla Quintanilla, head of the National Search Commission (CNB), said there are more than 24,600 women missing in Mexico till date.
Alejandro Encinas, Undersecretary for Human Rights at the Ministry of the Interior, Population, and Migration described the situation of violence against women as “extremely serious” and said that the age of the missing women “ranged from 12 to 19 years.” EFE
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