Photo By Carla Gutierrez / Staff
By Carla Gutierrez
Aroaring serpent of women snaked through Tijuana streets and wrapped around its monuments in a coil of anger and warning.
“Ya basta!” rumbled the clarion call down Tijuana’s gritty streets. “Not one more murdered!”
Mexico’s beleaguered women have had enough and Tijuana’s 10th Women’s March may have been its most emotional yet.
And the most urgent.
Mexican women and girls continue to suffer sexual abuse and die at genocidal levels as a dystopian machismo cultural, corrupt law enforcement and political indifference fuel a nation’s war on its own women.
“Listen women, this is your fight!” shouted a march leader.
An epic fight. Data is sickeningly consistent. Between 130-150 Mexican women are murdered by Mexican men every month. Tijuana is Mexico’s most violent city toward women, with 1,844 femicides in 2023, according to social research by Statista. Last year was even worse, with at least 2,000 women killed in Tijuana alone.
This year’s march took place at the Glorietta de las Tijeras monument in front of the Tijuana Cultural Center (CECUT), about 15 minutes from the border. Tamboreras Tijuana, a thunderous drum corps, was the beating heart of the march keeping the throng moving steadily and with purpose.
A group calling itself the Black Bloc led the march. It aspired to create “iconoclasm, such as graffiti on monuments, according to a member.
“This is a way to challenge patriarchy and make women’s struggles visible to the community,” said a Black Bloc marcher who asked that her name not be used for fear of recrimination. “As a leader, for me, the march is an act of unity and resistance. I march to be more, to be united, to be with other women. Today is a day we can unite and express strength.”
Red Bloc was led by Monica Rosas. She said her team seeks to dismantle patriarchal body shaming used to minimize and belittle women.
“We seek to demystify and normalize aspects of women’s bodies, particularly menstruation,” she said. “We seek access to free menstrual supplies and a safe space for dignified menstruation. Women need to reconnect with our bodies and our inner wisdom to resist patriarchal impositions.”
Streets along the march route were dyed purple as a symbol of the fight against gender violence. Purple represents bruises and injuries, said Michelle Alvarez, a law professor at UABC and a member of the Centro 32 Collective.
“Women’s rights require us to fight,” Alvarez said as she held her young daughter. “Nothing will be handed to us without a struggle.”
Chikimafia, the Mothers and Children Collective, is focused on the safety of mothers and their children.
“Join us!” shouted its leader. “This is a place to oppose any type of violence and it is healing.”
Mexico’s Women’s Movement has grown considerably over the years. Founder Blanca Maldonado said it started with 10 years ago with just 10 women. This year an estimated 200,000 marched in Mexico City alone. Besides Tijuana, there were also huge turnouts in Guadalajara, Ensenada, Mexicali, Ensenada, Tecate, San José del Cabo, Tuxtla Gutierrez in Chiapas, Tapachula, Cuidad Juárez, Saltillo, Colima, Durango, Toluca, San Miguel de Allende, Irapuato, León, Chilpancingo, Morelia, Cuernavaca, Monterrey, Oaxaca, Puebla and a dozen other large Mexican cities.
“Seeing so many women today is extraordinary,” Maldonado said to the crowd. “We are all part of a movement for women’s peace. We are strong together. You are not alone.”
Tijuana’s most poignant voices were those no one could hear. A roll call for murder victims echoed through the streets and reverberated in the hearts of marchers.
“We know they are gone, but we have not forgotten them,” said Paola Frausto. “We continue to remember them. We want the victims to hear us all the way to the afterlife.”
Irlanda Hernandez said the march gave her hope.
“Seeing so many people participate (was inspiring),” she said. (I love that women are passing along this feeling of freedom to their children.”
Mexico’s Women’s Movement is growing and gaining courage, said participant Artiana Prado.
“Everyone is welcome to join,” she said. “Everyone is a feminist because of their own story.”
