The Women March

 

(image taken from the web)

Yesterday, in what has become an annual event in Mexico City, International Women's Day was marked with a massive protest march by feminist groups.  Different contingents met in different locations throughout the city and converged upon Mexico City's main plaza, the Zócalo.  One report that I read estimated that there were 75,000 participants.

Last year the march turned violent with widespread vandalism, attacks on men, and over 80 injuries reported.  The rage is not without cause.  Mexico has one of the highest rates of femicide in the world.  In 2021 there were more than 1000 gender-based murders, and less than five percent of those cases ever come to trial.  President López Obrador has only inflamed the indignation of feminists by saying that femicide is "almost always a made-up crime" and that the protestors are the pawns of his conservative opponents.

In preparation for the event 3000 policewomen were deployed to patrol the route of the march, and metal barricades were erected around monuments and buildings such as the National Palace where the President has his offices.  

Yesterday's march appeared to be more peaceful than last year.  There were scattered incidents and eleven injuries reported and plenty of feminist slogans spray-painted on buildings and barricades.