On September 7, women activists seized the building of the local human rights commission around the country. They have vowed to occupy it until the Mexican government, led by Andrés Manuel López Obrador takes action against rising rape and femicide rates, murder and forced disappearance of Mexican people. Until then, the building will be repurposed as a shelter for women survivors of violence, said the activists.
The authorities in Mexico City have claimed that no force will be applied against the occupiers of the CNDH, however, police elsewhere have responded with violence.
On Thursday afternoon, a group of women in the city of Ecatepec took over offices of the human rights commission of the state of Mexico, which surrounds the capital.
Shortly after midnight, police entered the building. They beat the women and children with them, before taking them away in unmarked vehicles to the prosecutor’s office in a neighbouring municipality. Police refused to give information to relatives of the detainees, and after protesters began to break windows of the prosecutor’s office, the police attacked the crowd outside with metal tubes and fire extinguishers.
Crisis of Violence Against Women
Mexican activists, feminists, human rights advocate are protesting against the detrimental state of women in the country. They are raising pertinent questions including delay in justice, forced disappearances, lack of investigation and how the crimes often go unsolved.
According to official data, there's a sharp rise in the femicide rate in Mexico. The activists have made it clear that they will not tolerate a wave of gender violence that claimed 3825 women lives last year.
In August 2019, protesters set fire to a police station and a bus terminal in the heart of Mexico City after news broke of rapes committed by police officers in the capital.
In March, Mexico witnessed its first-ever national women strike post the murder of Ingrid Escamilla, 25, by her boyfriend. This again brought the problem of femicide to the forefront.
Feminist activists who have taken over the human rights commission building demonstrate in Mexico City, Mexico, on 14 September. Photograph: Sáshenka Gutiérrez/EPA
Most of the protestors are particularly angry on the President, widely known as Amlo, for continuously downplaying human rights crisis and rampant violence against women in Mexico.
During the protest, one middle-aged woman whose niece and sister have both disappeared brandished a fistful of documents from their CNDH case files. “I did this correctly. I sat here for hours and nothing happened,” she shouted, before shredding the papers and tossing them from the balcony.
“The institutions can go to hell, because they don’t respect people’s human rights.” Reports Guardian.
A woman whose husband was among the 73,000 Mexicans who have vanished without trace said, “I believed you (Amlo) when you said, I will be on your side, I will study and check every single file. It’s not true. The files are covered with dust.”
Amlo’s inaction has been particularly disappointing given his previous promises to victims of human rights violations. He remains incognizant to the crimes against women and humanity as he expressed outrage that the protesters had defaced portraits of historical presidents in the building, with no word on the disappearance of Mexican men and women, increasing incidences of rape and crime against women and inaction by the state.
About the Author
Prakriti S is a foodie, wildlife photographer, geo-politics enthusiast, and a woman activist.
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