Gabriela Mesones Rojo, Andrea Paola Hernández, Prensa Comunitaria, Revista Emancipa, Majo Montilla, Amanda Cotrim, Pierina Sora
In Caracas, 14 feminist organizations organized International Women's Day. Photo by Daniel Echeverría, 2024. Used with permission. Every March 8, millions of women mobilize in Latin America to be part of the agenda of International Women's Day. The problems experienced by women and gender diverse people in the region are not few: since 2018, 14 of the 25 countries with the most femicides are in Latin America, 27.4 percent of women in the region experience multidimensional poverty, and nearly 8,400 women die each year in the region due to complications in pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. According the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, in Latin America one in two women does not have a job and one in four does not have their own income. In Central America, less than 40 percent of women have a bank account. On this day, women respond to and highlight the problems that affect them in their own contexts, causing each town and each Latin American city to have its own complaints and requests. Here are some Latin American cities that filled their streets on International Women's Day. In Mexico City there was a strong official presence, the use of tear gas was reported, several people were injured, and one person was reported dead. Photo by Andrea Paola Hernández, 2024. Used with permission. More than 180 thousand people mobilized in the main Zócalo Square of Mexico City asking for justice for the ten women murdered every day in the Mexican Republic, and the 52,000 families who are actively searching for their missing relatives. With music, performance and chants, the participating contingents also marched for equal pay, sexual and reproductive education, and access to the national justice system. This International Women's Day stands out because it occurs in a special electoral year for Mexico, where the two main candidates for the presidency are women. One hundred and sixty-four protesters had to be treated for symptoms of heatstroke, after 2024 began breaking records of extreme drought in the country. Seven people required hospitalization, including one who died from cardiac arrest. The use of tear gas against the protesters was reported on social media, but the CDMX government assures that they were fire extinguishers to put out the bonfires with which they protested in the Zócalo. In Caracas there was the right to speak for all people. Photo by Daniel Echeverría, 2024. Used with permission. The March 8 protest in Caracas is one of the smallest in the region. This year, however, saw an increase with the attendance of just over a hundred protesters in Plaza Venezuela, among whom there was a beautiful diversity: non-binary identities, trans women, allied men, children, women of color, labor and rights activists humans. The slogans of the demonstration were focused on femicides (169 from January to October 2023), trans femicides, the right to free, safe and free abortion, salaries equal to the basic basket, the elimination of the tax on menstrual products, and justice for imprisoned women and the politicians and activists criminalized by the government of Nicolás Maduro. The demonstration highlighted the gender violence that women and LGBTQ+ populations experience every day in Venezuela, but with a specific focus: the role of state institutions and the violence that the Venezuelan government has exercised over the last decade. The precariousness of work, the feminization of poverty in the context of the humanitarian emergency, and the increase in the Venezuelan state's persecution of female politicians or activists were at the center of the day. During the demonstration, police officers took photos of the protesters, which is illegal in Venezuela. International Women's Day protest in Lima, Peru, 2024. Photo by Pierina Sora. Used with permission. The march in Lima was organized in six blocks: Women and LGBTQ+ people, sex workers, women with disabilities, relatives of victims of femicide and disappearance; mothers and children; transmasculinities, transfemininities and non-binary people or gender non-conforming people; first-timers, independent activists, feminist groups and organizations; mixed organizations and groups; and citizens in general. Although the protesters also spoke out against the president of the Republic Dina Boluarte, there was no type of repression. Contingent of domestic workers in Asunción, Paraguay. Photo by Noelia Díaz Esquivel, 2024. Used with permission.