Students, feminist collectives, mothers and daughters poured into streets across Mexico on Sunday. Women in the Sonoran capital of Hermosillo demanded an end to violence during their annual International Women’s Day march.
“To whoever’s listening, this is your fight,” protesters chanted as they marched down one of Hermosillo’s main streets and to the state judiciary building.
Their demands, on purple cardboard signs and long, printed banners, were diverse — from an end to imperialism to abortion rights.
But the overarching theme at this year’s march in Hermosillo was safety. María Soto came to the protest with her mother.
“I, along with the majority of my friends, my mom, all the women surrounding us, have survived some type of violence,” Soto said.
Protesters called on the government to do more to hold abusers accountable and demanded justice for missing and murdered women in the state of Sonora. Disappearances, often related to cartel violence, have plagued Sonora for years. Hundreds of people remain missing in the state.
Marchers also demanded access to safe and legal abortions inside the state’s hospitals. Sonora is one of a minority of Mexican states where abortion remains criminalized.
“If we don’t change things, nobody will, Soto said. “That’s why I’m here, so they keep listening to us, and to create a better future for women.”
While the march was largely peaceful, some marchers spray painted the facade of the state judiciary and burned signs at its entrance.
Taydee Parra Villagran came with her three daughters, including a baby in a stroller with purple face paint, the official color of International Women’s Day.
“I want them to know that they’re free, and no man can subjugate them,” Parra Villagran said.
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