Mexican women began demonstrating on International Women’s Day 2024, today, Friday, to demand their rights to safe and legal abortion in all states, the elimination of sexual violence and the wage gap, as well as justice and a male perspective in the murders of women that remain unpunished.
In Mexico, the 8M demonstrations began in the 1970s, but in recent years have gained a sense of urgency due to the sexist context women continue to face in the country.
According to María de la Luz Estrada, director of the National Observatory on Femicide, more than 3,000 women, girls and adolescents are murdered in Mexico every year, although only 24% of these cases are counted as femicide. Inequality remains rampant in the economy, with 28.5 million women left out of the labor market. In addition, home care remains mainly the responsibility of women.
Mass rallies are also being organized in states such as Guadalajara, Nuevo León, Veracruz and Oaxaca on International Women’s Day, and nearly 90,000 participants are expected to gather in Mexico City, as has been the case in previous years.
Yesterday, Thursday, Mexico witnessed a wave of severe violence during protests in the country demanding justice for the 43 missing students, and the demonstrators broke the main gate of the presidential palace during a conference held by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
The Mexican President stressed that “there is a black hand of the opposition in the protests against the 43 missing students from Ayotzinapa, which sparked chaos in the country. These actions are considered provocative,” noting that what happened yesterday is a banal act.
