Mexican Women Protest Over Gender-Based Violence In Juarez City

On Wednesday, some 10,000 Mexican women held a demonstration against gender-based violence in Juarez, a city where most femicide cases occur in Mexico.

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Carrying banners with whistleblowing messages, protesters walked 5 kilometers from downtown Juarez to the middle of the Santa Fe International Bridge, the dividing line between Mexico and the United States.

Most of them wore purple clothing, which represents feminist struggles. Other protesters wore green handkerchiefs to demand the right to legal abortion.

"We want people to realize that the fate of fellow countrywomen who died or suffered gender-based violence can also be ours," protester Karla Gutierrez stressed, urging the Mexican State to conclude investigations for crimes against women.

"I do not feel safe being here in Juarez city. Although I am 40 years old, my parents ask me where I am going because women are always in danger," Gutierrez explained.

Protesters also rejected that the Chihuahua city governor Maria Campos recently decreased the budget to solve the cases of femicides.

"This is a disappointment. I just hoped that Campos would be more emphatic with the young victims of violence and their families," said Julieta Castillo, aunt of the young Esmeralda Castillo, who disappeared over 13 years ago in Chihuahua city. 

National Public Security System reported that 27,133 Mexican women and girls were killed between 2015 and 2022. In this Latin American country, over 70.1 percent of women over 15 years old have experienced at least one incident of violence, either psychological or physical.