Latin American Women Experienced Backlash on International Women’s Day

International Women's Day (IWD) is a special occasion for Latin American women; activists, organizers, and women from all walks of life join protests, strikes, and artistic interventions to raise the government’s and civil society’s awareness of gender inequality and sexism. We don't manifest our dissatisfaction only on March 8, but it's perhaps the best opportunity for people to congregate in the name of this cause and one that receives the most media attention — and this year, Latin American women had many issues to raise awareness about.

Latin America is one of the most dangerous regions in the world for women in terms of gender violence. According to the United Nations, 14 of the 25 countries with the highest numbers of femicides are Latin American. Latin American women also face inequality in opportunities — an issue that worsened due to the pandemic. Rebeca Grunspan, leader of The Ibero-American General Secretariat, said at the beginning of 2021 that over 118 million Latin American women were living below the poverty level, mainly due to the COVID-19 crisis. The rates of violence against women in this region also rose during the pandemic; according to the World Bank, in 2020, many countries in the region registered an increase of between 30% to 50% in domestic violence against women.

The pandemic also impacted this year’s IWD protests, forcing many interactions that used to happen face-to-face to shift to a digital format. However, in many countries, physical gatherings also took place since many people felt the need to voice their demands out loud. Unfortunately, many of these protests turned violent, ironically underscoring the very reason protestors took to the streets.

On March 9, images from Mexico City showed how IWD protests turned violent between women and police officers outside the residence of president Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The president had demanded a barricade around the presidential palace to prevent vandalism, according to the government’s spokesperson, but protesters claimed the barrier represented his refusal to address gender issues, noting that the president previously supported a politician accused of rape by two women, as reported by The Guardian. When some protesters tried to break down the barrier, police officers responded by generating a confrontation that caused at least 81 people, most of whom were policewomen, to become injured, according to the BBC.

In Chile, confrontations between protesters and the official forces also happened in the country's capital on March 8. The protests were peaceful until a group of hooded men tried to take down a statue of a former national army hero, located in a square that is frequently occupied by protesters. After 30 minutes of confrontation, the concentration of people dissipated and police officers seized attackers. Some time later, people regrouped peacefully.

In Nicaragua, some activists complained that the police prevented them from leaving their houses so they couldn’t protest on IWD. In a declaration for the Spanish news agency EFE, a feminist leader in the country said that this was an act of retaliation from the government in response to the many protests that had occurred against the country’s president, Daniel Ortega, in 2018. "They prevented us from going out, claiming it was an order, asking for backup and saying we were in trouble for what we did in 2018," she said.

This year, I chose not to join protests in order to respect social distancing recommendations. In previous years, though, I participated in protests in Uruguay and have seen firsthand how things can get rough between protestors and official forces. In my opinion, it’s not a fair fight. Women protestors generally don’t carry weapons or use protective clothing and don’t do anything that justifies being hurt by rubber bullets or tear gases. Our only weapons are our words and our banners.