Thousands of women took to the streets of the main Mexican cities this Tuesday to protest against sexist violence on International Women's Day.
In Mexico City, the capital,
more than 8,000 people gathered to march on the Paseo de la Reforma
and from the Monument of the Revolution to the Zócalo, according to local authorities.
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To the cry of "Long live we love each other!"
and "Not one more murdered!"
The feminist groups that attended the event advanced on the main street of the capital to demand an end to femicides, forced disappearances and gender violence.
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Among the attendees were young people, mothers, girls and even babies.
“We are going to educate children with whom future generations are not afraid, who can be with them calmly,” a mother who carried her baby hanging from the kangaroo told Noticias Telemundo.
Around 4:00 pm Central Time,
some violent incidents were reported by some groups of hooded women
, although most of the participants were demonstrating peacefully.
While some carried out graffiti on the fences that the authorities placed to prevent damage to monuments and public buildings such as the Angel of Independence and the Government Palace, others launched purple smoke bombs and some displayed blowtorches.
“A few moments ago... the Security Secretariat of Mexico City secured a set of Molotov cocktails.
This with the aim of protecting the women attending the march and the population in general,” reported Martí Batres, Secretary of Government of Mexico City, on Twitter on Tuesday.
Women protest against gender violence in Mexico City for International Women's Day, on March 8, 2022.Jacky Muniello / AP
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Authorities in Mexico City reported that they
had deployed more than 3,000 female police officers to monitor the demonstration
.
They clarified that they were equipped with shields, helmets, knee pads and fire extinguishers, but not tear gas after criticism for their use in the 2021 march.
The National Palace, where the president resides, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has repeatedly referred to the feminist movement in Mexico as "influenced by conservatives" or contrary to his own political movement, woke up this Tuesday with the slogan
"Mexico femicide"
, written on the fences that the authorities put up to protect the building.
"His speech was something very macho, very patriarchal, we agree that obviously his police is the one that starts," a hooded woman who attended the march in Mexico City told Noticias Telemundo, referring to López Obrador's statements. about the alleged "infiltration" of the conservative movement among feminists.
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At least two protesters were injured, after the glass roof of the Hidalgo Metro station collapsed on them due to the blows they gave the structure with mallets and hammers, according to the Government of Mexico City.
protests around the country
In other states of the country, such as Hidalgo, Puebla, Sinaloa, Oaxaca and Morelos, hundreds of women went out to protest this Tuesday afternoon, demanding an end to impunity and justice for the families of victims of femicide.
In Cuernavaca, Morelos, a group of protesters entered the offices of the Government Palace, where Governor Cuauhtémoc Blanco works, and set the furniture on fire.
So far no injuries have been reported due to the incident.
A country mired in male violence
Mexico registered 1,004 victims of femicide in 2021, as murder motivated by gender violence is typified, 2.66% more than in 2020, according to official figures.
The Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection also documented 21,188 rape crimes, an annual increase of 28%, in addition to 253,736 crimes of family violence, an increase of 15% during the coronavirus pandemic.
In total, two out of three Mexican women over the age of 15 have experienced violence in their lives, according to the National Survey on the Dynamics of Relationships in Households of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography.