This 5th of December women in all cities of the country went on strike and mobilized to take part in massive protests for Lucía Pérez and all other victims of femicide.
Lucía Pérez, a 16-year-old high schooler, had been drugged and brutally raped to death in October of 2016. Pérez had been given copious amounts of cannabis and cocaine and in her state of confussion she was raped by all the men present, which in their depravity even took to objects to insert into her. The burden of this was so big on her body that she collapsed and died. The three men, who had been accused of this horrible crime, were acquitted of all rape and murder charges and were only charged with dealing drugs. The trial was a real punch in the face of the women living in Argentina. Especially with Argentina's femicide problem, this one case stuck out in its violence and brutality. This bad joke of a trial generated waves of rage, many women mobilizing and organising protests days after.
Argentina is a country struggling with patriarchy. The pro abortion movement, has recently brought this topic back into the surface, but sadly abortions are not the only thing Argentinian women are struggling with. In Argentina every 30 hours a woman is killed. This year the number of femicides has reached 260 cases to this date. 82% of the cases the aggressor is someone inside the woman's inner circle. In 17% of the cases she had already filed a lawsuit against their aggressor and in 11% of the cases she was (officially) already under judicial protection.
These murders and the lack of proper consequences towards the perpetrators are some of the ugliest faces of the patriarchy in this country and the trend is rising rather than falling. To further this barbaric trend the state is planning on cutting funds, subsidies and plans for the victims of gender violence. This goes to show with glowing letters, what the Argentinian state really stands for.
The women of Argentina have realized just that. They have shown again what strength and power the women in this country have. In every city protests against the patriarchal judiciary system took place. Thousands of women took to the streets to demonstrate. In Buenos Aires, where the protests especially standed out because of its magnitude women occupied the entire street and marched under the slogan "Ni una menos" (Not one more).
It is important to note, that while protesting for reforms and for a stop of the planned cuts on funds and subsidies are justified, the victories over these will not put an end to the patriarchy. These victories can be seen as blows to it, but to really end the oppression of women and bring forth real emancipation, what is needed is proletarian feminism. All these fights have to be seen as parts of one big struggle to smash the patriarchy, but to do this the twisted root of the problem has to be ripped of. This root being capitalism.
Only with the destruction of capitalism, which sees women as another means of production (production of labour forces) can the liberation of all women truly proceed. The femicides under which the Argentinian women suffer is one of the most horrible expressions of just this. Women being lowered to the lowest of the lowest, a mere object of production and sexual gratification without any regards to her life or her well-being.
The recent protests, but also all the other prior protests, in which women have played a significant role, have shown that they have the potential to shake the patriarchy in its base. The destruction of capitalism can only become reality with the liberation of women by the women. In this sense the Argentinian women have shown with their unity and strength, as well as their determination to fight and struggle that they are taking huge steps in the right direction. These mass protests need a red leadership under the red flag of communism. If they succeed to bring forward a red women's leadership, the days of the patriarchy in Argentina are counted.
Ni una menos!
