Women’s advocates on Saturday painted the names of female victims of violence on barriers that were erected in front of Mexico’s national palace ahead of a protest planned for International Women’s Day.
Activists displayed the words “Victims of Femicide” in Spanish on the metal barriers outside of the palace that holds the Mexican president’s offices and listed many women’s names below it, Reuters reported.
“Our struggle has names,” Marisol Calva, an academic, posted on Twitter along with photos of the painted names.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the barriers outside the palace were necessary partly to prevent the building from being vandalized during Monday’s demonstration. He vowed not to restrict the protesters in a video address posted on social media, noting he has always backed equality.
“I’m not a male chauvinist. I’m in favor of the rights of women,” he said, according to Reuters.
The city intends to send police, including 2,000 female officers, to protect protesters and monuments during the demonstration.
Mexican government data indicates that last year, 939 women were victims of femicide – a killing in which a woman was specifically targeted, Reuters noted.
As of last year, about 10 women are killed every day in Mexico, as the femicide rate has doubled over the past five years, according to a Center for Strategic and International Studies.