General Strike Called Against Femicide in Argentina

Feminist organizations in Argentina launched a campaign on social networks calling on citizens to join a one-day general strike to protest the scourge of femicides in the country which have increased exponentially in recent months.

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Under the slogan "If my life has no value, produce without me," the protest will take place on Oct. 19 following the brutal murder of teenager Lucia Perez in Mar del Plata, whose killing prompted calls for the strike.

Last weekend Lucia, 16, was tortured and raped by two men who took her body to a medical center and tried to cover up the crime and make it look like an overdose. However, the autopsy revealed that the young woman was forced to consume cocaine and had severe lesions in the genital area.

Activists say the protest intends to make visible the collective demand to stop violence against women and at the same time generate a clash with the stereotypes that women are to be treated as "product" to be sexually objectified and exploited. 

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The protest will also include a rally at Plaza San Martín in the capital, Buenos Aires, where demonstrators will demand that the government of President Mauricio Macri adopts real measures to halt all violence against women. 

According to data from human rights organizations,  a woman in Argentina dies every 30 hours from domestic violence, and since 2008, 1,808 women have been violently killed in the country.