Hundreds of women, adolescents and girls, along with organizations and activists, demonstrated this Saturday in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, to demand that the new Mexican government, headed by President Claudia Sheinbaum since October 1, end violence and inequality.
“We marched to share our concerns as girls and adolescents, about school violence, violations of our rights, inequality, domestic abuse, which forces us to marry at an early age, reasons why we cannot fulfill our rights, our dreams,” Magdalena Magaña, a 14-year-old adolescent from the Tzotzil ethnic group, told EFE.
In view of the “International Day of the Girl,” which will be celebrated on October 11, indigenous and rural minors made visible the increase in violence and inequality that they experience in their communities in Chiapas, a state that in recent months has suffered disputes and the scourge of organized crime.
The demonstrators gathered in the north of the city and walked to the central park, carrying banners, cardboard cutouts of girls and women with messages such as “All rights for girls, boys and adolescents” and “Girls fighting, transforming the world.”
The girls, adolescents, women and activists wore white blouses and purple badges and as they made their way through the tourists and residents they sang: “Rice pudding, I want to find a companion who wants to dream, who believes in herself and goes out to fight, to conquer her dreams of freedom, brave, not submissive, happy and strong and I want to be me!”
At the end of the march, the women carried out various cultural and artistic activities where they left youthful thoughts on display and also sang rap and danced.
Risk of pregnancy and disappearances
In Mexico, girls suffer twice as many crimes as boys, as statistics reveal that for every male adolescent between 12 and 13 years old who is sexually abused, there are eight women of the same age being abused, according to data from organizations.
Specifically, the Melelxojobal organization pointed out that in the state of Chiapas there are more than one million girls and adolescents and of them 300 thousand speak an indigenous language.
Among the problems that minors face is malnutrition, the third cause of death in girls from five to 11 years old, while the second is suicide in adolescent women.
There are also more than 65 thousand adolescents, from 12 to 14 years old, who are married or live with a partner and according to records, every month about 250 adolescents between 12 and 14 years old become pregnant.
Another problem is disappearances. Since 2020, some 2,000 girls and adolescents have disappeared in Chiapas, and the risk is highest among those between the ages of 12 and 17.
Records also show that between 2012 and 2024, at least 15 girls and adolescents have been victims of femicide in San Cristóbal de las Casas, and so far in 2024, seven have died by firearm.
Source: latinus.us
