#NiUnaMenos
How Latin American women are mobilizing to protect each other.
In the past several years, we have seen a rising tide of demonstrations against an alarming phenomenon that Latin American women have dealt with for generations--femicide. Defined by the World Health Organization as the murder of a woman because she is a woman, femicide has become a disturbing trend in the region. Latin America contributes 50% of all femicides worldwide, and has been labeled the worst region in the world to be a woman. Polls show that women do not feel that they are respected or treated with dignity, or that sufficient efforts are being made by their elected officials to protect them. Alarmingly, despite growing awareness of the issue, rates of femicide continue to rise. In 2015, one woman was murdered every 30 hours in the Latin America; in 2016, that statistic rose to one woman every 18 hours. Though this can in part be attributed to the prevalence of drug cartels and gangs in some Latin American regions, its root cause is a culture that condones violence against women. A lack of effectively enforced laws working to eradicate this culture and prosecute the perpetrators of this violence ensure that Latin American women continue to be in danger. This has led these women to rise up in a series of mass demonstrations from Mexico to Argentina, Chile to El Salvador, Brazil to Peru, all with the message that enough is enough. In Argentina, a leader in the fight against gender violence, the movement culminated behind the motto "Ni Una Menos." Not One Less.
This most recent wave of protests was sparked by the deaths of 16-year old Argentine student, Lucia Perez an 14 year-old Chiara Páez. In October 2016, Lucia was kidnapped outside her school, drugged, raped and impaled by local gang members. Páez was beaten to death by her boyfriend and his family after they found out she was pregnant. The brutality of their murders reinvigorated the anger of women all over the country, inspiring them to take to the streets to demand an end to male violence. These protests soon culminated in the Ni Una Menos movement and inspired similar movements throughout Latin America. Ni Una Menos advocates for ALL women, not just schoolgirls like Perez, but also sex workers and gang members. By emphasizing the rights of every woman to a safe, full life they reject the rhetoric that dismisses some victims of femicide because they did not lead "pure" lifestyles. Instead, Ni Una Menos makes it clear that the violent and degrading actions of Latin American men are what need to change, not the lifestyles of women.
This site delves into the phenomenon of femicide by looking into the history of discrimination and violence against women in the region, statistics on femicide, the role of greater societal violence in the femicide epidemic, and finally the insufficient policy efforts that have been made to fight against it.
This site delves into the phenomenon of femicide by looking into the history of discrimination and violence against women in the region, statistics on femicide, the role of greater societal violence in the femicide epidemic, and finally the insufficient policy efforts that have been made to fight against it.