Women in Latin America Demand Equality and Protection Against Violence on M8 Demonstrations
Several women participate in a demonstration this Saturday, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, outside the Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center in Santiago de Chile. Photo: EFE/ Ailen Díaz
March 8, 2025 Hour: 5:35 pm
Thousands of women took to the streets of major Latin American cities this Saturday in commemoration of International Women’s Day, as well as to highlight the struggle for gender equality and demand the eradication of sexist violence.
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In the Dominican Republic, hundreds of women demonstrated in the center of Santo Domingo, demanding justice and equality in one of the “most dangerous countries for women in the region.”
In the Dominican Republic, “they murder us every day, they criminalize us for deciding about our bodies, they marginalize us from positions of power, and they exploit us in the labor market,” the organizing entities stated in a statement read at the demonstration.
Meanwhile, in El Salvador, women gathered in Cuscatlán Park, in San Salvador, and marched along one of the city’s main streets to Plaza Salvador del Mundo, where a crowded and colorful mobilization concluded without incident.
On this occasion, the rejection of metallic mining was the main message of the mobilization, which also included pronouncements against gender violence and reiterated the request for the decriminalization of abortion in the country.
According to feminist organizations, the exploitation of mining would directly affect rural women who supply their families with water from the rivers, which, according to NGOs, are being contaminated.
In Bolivia, several women’s social organizations gathered in Plaza Murillo, where the country’s Executive and Legislative powers are concentrated, and demonstrated with chants and shouts so that “society respects women’s rights.”
Bolivia is among the countries in the region with the highest rates of violence against women. The Bolivian Prosecutor’s Office registered 8,477 cases of crimes related to violence against women from January 1 to March 7.
In Chile, thousands of women marched through the center of Santiago and demanded that the government “prioritize” the gender agenda and open up the debate around free abortion.
“Women and dissent remain the most important social movement in Chile. In Santiago, just in the morning, half a million people have taken to the streets against the fascist offensive of the far-right and to continue driven deep transformations”, Javiera Mena, spokesperson for the 8M Feminist Coordination and Articulation for the 2025 Feminist General Strike.
Autor: ACJ
Fuente: EFE