Male Violence
Women Are Missing Here
Families and activists denounce violence against women in Chimalhuacán and Nezahualcóyotl amid a rise in femicides and disappearances.
The rally point for the 50 women is not a public square nor a government building. It is under a bridge, close to two four-meter-long pink crosses next to the canal La Compañía, in the municipality of Chimalhuacán in the State of Mexico. The crosses, emblazoned with the words “Justicia” and “Ni una más”, are the first stop of the procession led by families and feminist activists for victims of femicides and disappearances in the periphery of Mexico City on November 24.
Surrounded by the stench from the canal, where the bodies of women have been dumped, a group of women dressed in black with purple shawls are holding small pink crosses with the names of those killed in the past years: Diana, Brenda, Lourdes, Nely, Edith, María del Consuelo. Lidia Florencio, the mother of Diana Velázquez, who was found murdered on July 2, 2017, kicks off the protest by denouncing the failure of law enforcement to investigate the murders:
“We will continue to demand justice. Diana was 24 years old when she was murdered, it took a few hours for the killers to end her life and leave her body very close to our house. The authorities sent a message to murderers: that there will be no investigation to find those responsible. That’s why they can kill us, they can disappear us, and in the end, there will be no punishment for them.”
At least 81 women were killed between January and September of this year in the State of Mexico, making it the second state with the highest rates of femicides — the killing of women based on gender — , after the northeastern state of Veracruz, where 140 cases were registered, according to the National Citizen Femicide Observatory.
Frustrated by the indifference to past vocal protests, the group walks in silence throughout the streets that are traveled by women and girls daily, from Chimalhuacán to the neighboring municipality of Nezahualcóyotl. Accompanying the silent marchers is a recording played over a loud speaker reciting names of victims and details of their cases. In Mexico, 99% of the crimes are never resolved.
“From day one, we knew that my sister’s case shouldn’t remain invisible, so we have participated in several mobilizations,” says Laura Velázquez, Diana’s sister. “So far, no one has been held responsible. It’s been more than two years and they have not yet given us a culprit.”
The procession, led by the families, was an attempt to decentralize the protest against gender violence from Mexico City and invite fellow feminists and activists to “acuerpar” — to embody collectively — in the sites where women face multiple violences. Nos Queremos Vivas Neza, one of the organizers, and a community assembly that demands safety and security for women in the State of Mexico, explained that the route was carefully selected to reclaim the public space where women are often violated, harassed, and killed.
According to civil organizations, 5,108 women and girls disappeared between 2012 and 2018, 47% are between 10 and 17 years old.
“Beyond the international attention, we want to be seen internally, from our community, from our own periphery,” explains Elsa Arista, member of the group. “Our job is community work, we don’t want to be the center of attention. We want the community to know that we are here, we want them to know what to do in case of a disappearance.”
The numbers of femicides and disappearances continue to increase in the State of Mexico, which surrounds Mexico City to the north, the east, and west, despite the activation of a gender alert — a set of emergency governmental measures to tackle violence against women — in 11 municipalities in 2015. A second gender alert was issued this year in seven municipalities, including Neza and Chimalhuacán, for the high number of disappearances. According to civil organizations, 5,108 women and girls disappeared between 2012 and 2018, 47% are between 10 and 17 years old.
“It’s been three years since we cannot find our nieces: Karol Guadalupe and Evelin Baltazar, 9 and 12 years old. Nobody listens to us or does anything. Why? Because we are humble people and we don’t have the means to mobilize,” says María Angélica Baltazar, aunt of the girls.
While the group occasionally chanted “Ni una más” (Not one more), the prominent rallying cry was a list of steps to follow in case a daughter, friend, mother or sister disappears. Members of the feminist colectivas pasted action sheets on poles and delivered to citizens guidelines to follow after a relative goes missing, such as verifying the possible route that she took after leaving home or work, and demanding CCTV footage.
“We want to provide tools to the community because the authorities do not even come to inform us what is happening or what to do in case of a disappearance,” adds Arista. “It’s not only to decree an alert, but that the authorities really do their job. Alerts do not serve if they are not implemented.”
María de Lourdes García Arizmendi is still waiting for answers. Her daughter Norma Dianey García disappeared on January 15, 2018 after leaving work in the borough of Iztapalapa. Norma boarded public transport, but she never made it to her house in Chimalhuacán. One year later, the authorities keep telling García to be patient.
“We start here in our state, but we would like to go further. It’s very hard, unfortunately people are not empathetic,” says García. “They don’t feel sorry for your pain, they lie to you, they insult you, but we’re not going to stop. We’re going to continue.”
After walking through sprawling and desolate neighbourhoods, where girls and women are constantly at risk, the procession halts at a busy intersection, near public schools, where young females students are disappearing. Some of the activists perform dance ceremonies to honor and name many of the victims, bringing life to the statistics — 10 women killed daily — that torment thousands of women across the country.
Earlier this year, Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, presented a plan to combat gender violence, standardize femicide, and to search for women as soon as they are reported missing. The political will to implement it is still to be seen.
On Monday, Florencio and her daughter Laura led the march to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in Mexico City. Along with thousands of women, they demanded justice and the right to a life free of patriarchal violence. A small group of protesters smashed glass panes of bus stops, spray-painted monuments and were confronted by riot police, which fired pepper spray, becoming the focus of the coverage of the country’s national media.
The concentration, however, ended peacefully in the Zócalo, with the plight of the families at the center of the protest. They shared some of their long-lasting struggles and called for continuous solidarity from activists and civil society. Around 9 o’clock, the square looked almost empty, with sprayed-painted messages on the floor that read: “This fury was caused by your machismo”, “Women are missing here”, and “What would be of us without nosotras?”
Florencio and Laura returned to their house in the State of Mexico, carrying in their hands the bounty poster pleading for information on Diana’s killer, the same one they delivered to dozens of people during Sunday’s procession. For families of victims, this was just another week in their enduring struggle not only to find their loved ones but also to be heard.
