Voices of Mexico no. 115

Our Voice

Women’s struggle for equality is not new: in Mexico it dates from the early twenti- eth century when small groups began to demand participation in political life, among other things. But it is new to think about it as the exercise of equity in all spheres, as many women demonstrate without having previously been involved in political activism or having had a prior feminist consciousness, since they, like all of us, experience harassment —the #MeToo movement showed us just how widespread and generalized it is— and, especially daily violence.

In this decade in Mexico, the numbers of women murdered and forcibly disappeared have reached his- toric, alarming heights; so has violence outside the home and inside the family, while the state has not taken actions to guarantee protection and equity for us. As a matter of fact, many military and police forces participate in kidnappings and murder. This situation has had the effect that most of today’s feminisms are anti-system and many have chosen to violently protest to attempt to move society and the authorities who dodge the problem.