Girls throughout Latin America march in opposition to violence in day of protests By Reuters

By Sarah Morland

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – From Buenos Aires to Bogota, ladies throughout Latin America took to the streets on Friday in marches to mark the Worldwide Day for the Elimination of Violence in opposition to Girls, demanding extra motion from authorities.

In Mexico Metropolis, feminist associations marched down Reforma Avenue, one of many capital’s important arteries, chanting with loudspeakers and smoke flares, flanked by a whole lot of police with riot shields and protecting vests.

Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, who’s hoping to change into the nation’s first feminine president in 2024, had earlier this week known as for a peaceable protest, however some cautious activists arrived with helmets and goggles in case of tear fuel.

Victims of rape and moms of ladies and women killed throughout Mexico took to loudspeakers to demand an finish to gender violence and higher legal investigations for his or her family members.

Based on authorities knowledge, some 20 ladies are killed every day although few instances lead to sentences.

“We is not going to be silenced,” stated Lorena Gutierrez, whose 12-year outdated daughter was a sufferer of femicide. “Girls and women are nonetheless disappearing all throughout the nation.”

Honduras suffers the area’s highest price of femicides, adopted by the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Bolivia and Brazil, in response to a brand new U.N. report.

“Our obligation is to redouble efforts in order that the ladies and women of our area can actually train their proper to reside a life freed from violence and discrimination,” Jose Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs of the U.N.’s regional financial physique stated.

In October, 80 ladies in Mexico had been killed as a consequence of their gender, in response to a Tuesday authorities report; the fourth consecutive month-to-month improve. The federal government has drawn ire for attempting to downplay the dire scenario.

“We would like them to hear,” stated Jose Angel Trejo, whose daughter Melani was killed in August in Morelos, a state recognized for prime charges of gender violence. He stated investigators weren’t answering his messages and the suspect remains to be free.

Trejo hopes his daughter’s case shall be transferred to federal authorities.

“Many instances of femicide we work with are being very badly investigated,” added Gabriela Castillo from the Federal Institute of Public Protection (IFDP), which helps victims and their households by authorized processes, saying she needed extra consciousness of the errors being made.

“We would like this violence to be seen to everybody,” she stated.