Argentines protest over rape, murder
BRUTAL: Protesters march in memory of teen who was sexually violated, impaledonaspike
DRESSED in black, thousands of Argentines took to the streets on Wednesday to protest the brutal rape and murder of a 16-yearold girl, the latest case of violence against women to shock the country.
The protesters — mostly women, but also some men — marched in memory of Lucia Perez, a high school student who died on Oct 8 after drug dealers allegedly raped her and impaled her on a spike.
“If you touch one of us, we all react,” said signs carried by many of the protesters, who staged an hour-long strike.
It was the latest in more than a year of mass marches to protest against violence targeting women in the country, where according to government figures domestic violence kills one woman every 36 hours.
In June last year, protests broke out nationwide over a trio of gruesome killings: a kindergarten teacher whose estranged husband slit her throat in front of her class; a 14-year-old girl whose boyfriend allegedly beat her to death because she got pregnant; and a woman whose ex-boyfriend stabbed her to death in broad daylight at a cafe here.
“The case of Perez acted as a trigger to demand justice for women who suffer sexist violence,” said one protester in Gabriela Spinelli.
Organisers said the goal was to condemn not only Perez’s killing, but a culture that valued women less than men, which they said could be seen in statistics such as the unemployment and poverty rates.
Brutal rapes were the product of a society where boys were not raised to respect women, said demonstrator Karina Munoz.
“A rapist isn’t a monster. He’s not sick. He’s a healthy child of this system, which produces men who don’t respect it when women say no,” she said.
Despite a rain storm that likely dented turnout here, demonstrators managed to block off several avenues in the capital, as supporters applauded from office buildings.
In Spain, hundreds of women protested in solidarity in Madrid and Barcelona. Demonstrations were also held in cities across Latin America, including Lima and Mexico City. AFP
AFP pic