By Miriam Specka
On September 3rd, two mothers, one of a girl who was sexually abused by teachers at a school in San Luis Potosi in 2017 and whose abusers faced no punishment, and the other the mother of a boy murdered at the same institution in 2019, decided to protest at the Comisión Nacional de Derecho Humanos (National Human Rights Commission), with one tying herself to a chair and refusing to leave until the justice was served for the crimes. Various feminist groups, such as the Frente Nacional #NiUnaMenos, came and joined them.
The CNDH has since been taken over by these groups as an act of protest against government’s inaction and indifference in responding to the mom’s calls for justice, as well as a general lack of action towards problems of gender-based violence, forced disappearances, missing people, and homicides, among other things.
When the CNDH was raided, large quantities of food, especially expensive foods, were found in the kitchen facilities, despite the “lack of resources” the commission claimed when failing to attend victims’ cases.
The protesters refuse to give up the building, and instead plan to turn it into a refuge for victims of sexual aggression under the name “Casa de Refugio Ni Una Menos México”
Among the things the protesters demand are:
Public recognition of the extent of gender-based violence in the country
Subsidies for the Alerta de Violencia de Genera in seven states
The creation of a commission to assist women affected by violence
Medical services and access to medications
End to the campaign “Cuenta hasta 10” (“Count to 10”)
Rosario Piedra to back down from her position
Protesters have painted over many of the paintings and installations found in the CNDH, and are selling them to support their mission of bringing victims from other states to their new refuge. A painting of Francisco I. Madera became a symbol of the protesters’ fights after president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador criticized the women for vandalizing it, saying “no son formas,” or “those are not ways to protest,” even though these mothers had been peacefully protesting and waiting outside the Palacia Nacional for months.
Victims’ family members who have had their voices silenced for years by an indifferent government are finally being heard, with all of Mexico’s eyes on them.
DONATE
They need things such as medications, pads and tampons, water, toilet paper, blankets, school supplies, and clothes donated and have set up the following bank account to donate to:
Banco Azteca
CABLE Interbancaria
1271 8001 3132 4382 91
Account number
2545 1313 2438 29
Learn more:
For pictures of the happenings on Instagram
@usagii_ko
@madresdesobedientes
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