If you read my last post, or Diana’s piece for this year’s International Women’s Day, you’ll know that Mexican women are fed up. The latest murder, this one of a 7-year old girl, has reignited anger among the people. Fatima’s is not the only case that has sparked outrage. In the past few years, Ingrid and Mara are also names we saw all over the news. But why do we only know these 3 names? What about the more than 4,000 other women that have been brutally murdered since 2015?
As of February 17, 265 women have already been killed in Mexico in 2020. That’s 265 in only 48 days.
What is the government doing about this? Absolutely nothing so far. At least nothing effective. Mexico’s President has announced that there will be harder penalties for people who commit femicides; but how is this even a viable solution when 2 out of 10 murders currently go unpunished?
Women are being hated to death and no one is being held responsible.
This is why a ‘National Strike’ is taking place today, March 9 2020. It is a day without women. No women are leaving their homes. We are stopping all labor and domestic duties. We are not spending a cent whatsoever: no food ordering, no streaming, no shopping, no walking out on the streets, no school, no daycare, no nothing.
#UnDiaSinEllas (A Day Without Them) is a strike to protest against the violence we live with every day. It is a simulation of all the women who have gone missing and been murdered in the past years. It is also a protest to demand larger support for women’s rights. There will be an unignorable economic impact, since it is estimated this strike will cost the country around 2.3 billion dollars.
This is one of the biggest social movements Mexico has seen in modern times.
It is so massive that it has put many previous social, religious, racial or economical divides behind us. We are as united as we have ever been. Both the public and private sectors have spoken in favor of the strike. Many companies are also speaking up in support of their female colleagues and employees.
The strike follows this year’s International Women’s Day March which took place yesterday and gained major participation. There were similar marches in August and November 2019, where thousands of women mobilized in Mexico city.
We are marching and striking for every single woman in this country. We are demanding our rights, our physical integrity, and an end to violence.
