PBI-Mexico present at International Women’s Day march in Cuernavaca, Morelos where femicides continue

Published by Brent Patterson on March 16, 2024March 16, 2024

On March 15, PBI-Mexico posted on Instagram and Facebook:

“A week ago, we were present as international observers at #M8 [International Women’s Day] in #Cuernavaca. From PBI, we accompany women demanding an end to impunity in cases of rape, disappearances and violence against them. We demand guarantees for their #HumanRIghts.”

Cuernavaca is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos. It is located about 90 kilometres south of Mexico City.

24 Morelos reported: “This Friday, March 8, hundreds of women marched in Cuernavaca, in commemoration of International Women’s Day. Banners such as ‘Today I march with my daughter so that tomorrow I won’t march for her’ and ‘Abusers also disguise themselves as best friends’ could be read. The march began at the Niño Artillero traffic circle, passing through Morelos Avenue and ending at the Zócalo of Cuernavaca.”

The history of IWD and femicides in Morelos

And La Jornada Morelos noted the history of International Women’s Day, beginning with the first IWD march on March 8, 1999. It then recounts:

“It was in 2003 that an event occurred that would move consciences and lay the foundations for the first women’s groups that would promote the feminist struggle in Morelos for women’s rights and the elimination of violence. A woman was found lifeless and with signs of torture on Humboldt Street in downtown Cuernavaca, very close to the Government Palace, the official seat of the Executive Branch and the Congress of Morelos. At the same time, some feminists, such as Marcela Lagarde, argued that it should be classified as femicide.

In 2008 they constituted the Committee Against Femicides (COCOFEM), which generated an important articulation and allowed artistic manifestations to be held to make visible violence against women and its maximum expression represented in femicides.

In December 2018, María Fernanda Estefanía Toledo Cervantes, 19, a medical student and daughter of the director of the Faculty of Law of the Autonomous University of the State of Morelos (UAEM), was kidnapped and murdered. Her femicide and this new threat brought together the university students and academics who made up the collective Vivas Nos Quiero and for the first time called for a protest on their own.

On February 9, 2020, the femicide of Ingrid Escamilla occurred in Mexico City, shook the entire country. The indignation touched many women and in Morelos.

In Morelos, the murders of women became a constant and have risen steadily, from 2000 to date there have been more than 1,450 femicides, according to data from various feminist collectives.”

This continues

On March 10, La Jornada reported:

“The body of a woman with signs of violence was found this morning on a dirt road in the town of Buena Vista de Cuernavaca, police sources reported. With this woman murdered, according to the organization Divulvadoras, it would be the 21st femicide registered so far this year in this state. This lifeless woman was found two days after March 8, International Women’s Day, and when more than 10,000 women came out to demand that the three branches of government cease femicides in this state.”

Further reading: PBI accompanies International Women’s Day in Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, Kenya, Costa Rica, the UK and Canada (March 10, 2024)