I saw the last moments of Un violador en tu camino in Mexico City late last year. It was beyond the words for the power of seeing thousands gathered in front of the National Palace filling the plaza in vocal unison awe-inspiring corporal synchronicity. I will carry this moment with me forever. When I am in the US, as a Black woman, I never feel "safer." I have been stalked in gyms, threatened on the street, and experienced the trauma of racial and sexual harassment by the police in Milwaukee and Los Angeles. All of these moments happened in broad daylight. This movement in Latin America is radical because many womxn's lives are often on the line for even participating in these protests. Just this past week a young feminist activist was murdered in Ciudad Juarez among numerous others already in 2020. Glad to finally see this piece in the NY Times (English) version since there have already been some amazing pieces by Gabriela Wiener and others in NY Times Español on this movement.
48
Thank you for this article. More and more girls and women in the U.S. and around the globe have had enough of systemic oppression. From microaggressions and pay disparities to mass twitter attacks and rape, a reckoning is underway and close to critical mass, a tsunami that will usher in a sea change in gender equality and human rights. The sooner the better for all life on earth.
32
Thank you for this article. I marched twice in the past 2 weeks with some of these women and am happy to know the full story. I should've looked it up on my own, I know, but here it is and I am grateful. It's a very powerful chant to hear and incredibly inspirational.
22
The education and empowerment of women, which has to include access to birth control and family planning, is not only the salvation of South America, but the entire planet.
55
@AL
Done. Latin America has had a declining birth rate for the past 15 years at least.
5
So these women don't want to be killed, raped, ignored or marginalized? How radical of them!
5
Thank you for highlighting this! We're going to have to stand up and occupy our space, insist on our rights. Perhaps it wouldn't be necessary if the paternalists would be as zealous for their responsibilities as they are for their privileges, but that is clearly not in the cards. LFG!
5
The world won't be free until everyone is free from oppression and injustice. Patriarchy and its insidious effect around the world must be stomped and destroyed wherever it may be found.
6
Nonsense.
Most men aren't, and have never been, rapists. Laws against rape were written by men before women were elected to legislatures, before they could even vote. The penalties are severe.
1
@Jonathan Katz
Those early laws were property crime laws as women and girls were seen as property of their husband or father. Rape was seen as a crime against that man, not the woman or girl. So please don't go on about how men went so far as to criminalize rape, they did it in their own self interest to "protect their property" and gain redress. It was never about protecting the woman or girl.
And, no, even to this day the penalties are nowhere near severe and that's when a man is actually charged, faces trial, and is then actually found guilty. That all too rarely happens.
16
The United States needs to lead the charge on rights for women but under Trump, that will not happen. I question if it will ever happen. Sexism is has been institutionalized into the US government. Voter suppression and the electoral college have not only allowed the GOP to ruin the country but it has allowed a rapist and serial philanderer in the Oval Office. It is horrific.
11
Bravo to all the women participating!! Making men more cognizant of their actions may help make them more thoughtful. Well, at least a few might benefit. Turkey's a good start for the Muslim countries, but I'd like to see more Muslim women involved. These women are truly living in the Middle Ages, and have little recourse to any relief. Shrouded in black and beholden to men, in many places such as Saudi Arabia, they can't walk in the streets without a male escort. They're treated like children, or worse, because they're married (sometimes raped) at an early age. They're in bondage with few rewards.
This is a good start toward unity and visibility, and its done without violence! Bravo, bravo, bravo all you women!!
22
Thank you for this excellent article and deepest, deepest respect and gratitude to the women of Latin America for their clarity of understanding, their courage, and their commitment.
6
Like others posting in response to this column, I question the use of the word "radical" in the headline. But for a different reason.
Why is it that women have to fight for the basic right to not be subjected to violence of the most personal nature, i.e., having their very person violated by men? However, in thinking about that question, women demanding to be treated as full human beings is in fact radical, in the popular political connotation of that word, in the world we live in. It is radical and it is righteous as well.
Personally, I believe radical problems require radical solutions. That may scare or offend some. To them I say, "take a look at who's in the White House."
7
Great article! I am very surprised at the sparsity of comments. I would have thought that many more NYT readers would weigh in on supporting global women's rights. Where are all the female NYT readers?
12
Although I simpathize with any movement that proposes solutions to reduce violence against women in Brazil, which is a real problem, it is important to note that here is no law here preventing women to run and get elected. On the contrary, a women tipically gets more campaign funds from the state than a man.
2
@Marcelo I wonder why more women don't run then? Any ideas?
4
I wish this article had not used the word "Radical" in relation to feminism. This term has negative connotations that are usually defined and promulgated by right-wing conservative and mostly religious groups. What's wrong with women having human rights?
Second, maybe what we really need is more emphasis on studying and countering machismo.
22
@Recovering Catholic
Radical feminism simply refers to tackling the root (hence the word "radical") of the problem, which is patriarchy. In Brazil, they understand it's a systemic problem. Right-wing groups have nothing in common with radical feminism, since they seek to keep the status quo.
16
@Alice I'm afraid the word radical is overloaded, and I agree with @Recovering Catholic that it would be better not to use it. I wonder if this was the author's word, or a Times op-ed click-bait title.
9
@Recovering Catholic
i has the exact same response. i absolutely agree.
5
How is this radical? It seems to me that theses women are protesting to be treated like decent human beings.
47
@Ex-Pat Pam
thanks for voicing- i completely agree.
8
Agreed. Just click bait
3
Rape and feminicide are awful reminders of human cruelty...when allowed by our silence. Having grown up in Bolivia, where these abuses against women are rampant as well, gives an ever-present picture of what 'machismo' can do. We must absolutely educate ourselves since childhood to love or at least respect our essential partners, women. And for those too late to know 'right from wrong' (a conscience gone bezerk), strong and sound justice that puts the abusers away...for good. The current status quo isn't working.
22
¡Arriba todas!
10
It is noteworthy that the present feminist movement is global and inspired by women of Latin American countries where tradicional machismo, the power of the Catholic Church, and authoritarian militarism have controlled societies with little challenge, except for the liberation movements against military dictatorships in the 1970's and 80's. It is finally realized that the oppression of women is cultural and systemic within all regions, ethnic groups and social classes. The improvement in women's education in all countries of the region and the opening of learning horizons made possible by the internet, have had an immediate response among women. The liberation of women, no doubt, will be a powerful force to lift countries of the region to higher levels of development. Under the administration of Rafael Correa, Ecuador instituted laws of gender equality in the national congress and cabinet posts. But, as often is the case, a progressive government is followed by a conservative one and the gains are reversed. I think that this feminist movement will be sustained because women live daily the realities of disadvantage and vulnerability that motivate women to be involved and the educational level of women in Chile and Argentina is higher than elsewhere in the region.
16
The mothers of this race have been excluded from the political process that is necessary for any group to have a say in the social circumstances that affect their survival and ability to thrive for as long as we have records. Men have used the violence described in this article to keep us helpless and so damaged that on average we barely survive and cannot thrive. Yes, this has to change. Yes, these brave souls are out there trying to stop a thousands of years old crime against the mothers of this race. Their bravery in the face of this violence cannot be overstated or overlauded.
17
Vanessa, MUITO obrigada for this article, which explains so succinctly the reasons behind the performance and the global reach of patriarchal oppression. It is systemic.
It is also found in the ways that mothers raise their sons to be machista and their daughters to "overlook" that. There are plenty of women who are machistas, let's not forget, and I wonder if any research has been done anywhere to find out why (my idea is that they raise their sons to be part of the patriarchal social order so they can not only survive in it but also, eventually, protect their mother!).
I've been wondering about systems ever since - back in the 1960s - I saw brothers and fathers and male cousins getting benefits that we could not even think about. And here we are, still going strong like you pointed out in political representation. Thank you again for this article and for the NY Times for continuing to publish articles like this.
Now, go check out the YOUTube presentations from all over the world! Inspiring!
25
It's incredible to me that we are constantly talking about the systems that oppress and punish racial minorities, but those same voices often couldn't care less about how those systems treat women. Activists seem to care far more about how hard it is to be a black man in America, but I hear so much less about how hard it is to be a Native American woman. Even within ethnic groups, each is just advocating for their own race, their own neighborhood, not seeing that this is all connected, and that a white woman living in rural North Dakota is probably experiencing similar levels of oppression to a black man living in New York.
Sometimes America's individualism gets the best of us.
36
@T. Not to mention that women are more than half the world, but they are always at the end of the line when it comes to these kinds of discussions. Why is that?
16
There should be more protests when women are subjected to state-sanctioned violence. And more countries should question the fact that they have never had a female head of state. Like the United States should ask itself this question.
23
We must stand in solidarity with our sisters around the globe if we’re to have any hope of creating a better world.
Although I was a young child when the US government overthrew Chile’s democratically elected leader and installed the murderous puppet dictator, Pinochet, I feel a deep sense of sadness and shame that I am a citizen of a nation that has systematically worked to prevent any development by Central and South America in improving the lives of the people.
The propaganda machine that is the 4th Estate has done an excellent job of obscuring the evidence that the USA has deliberately destroyed the lives of millions in order to make it possible for a handful of people to own everything.
And now, big surprise, the plutocrats have used the Central and South American playbook to decimate our own country.
Collectively, we always should have cared about human rights across the continent, but unfortunately we’ve failed miserably, and now the pressures of climate change are making matters worse.
We don’t have that much more time to get it right. Supporting women’s rights is an important component of addressing climate change.
A big thank you to Noam Chomsky and all the educators and activists who have worked so hard to raise our collective conscience.
I have tremendous admiration for these women.
47
@Annie Gramson Hill
Blaming the United States for things it hasn't done.
Blame Pinochet for Pinochet, and the Chilean military that put him in power.
1
@Jonathan Katz
The US participation in the overthrow of Allende, the installation of Pinochet, and the chaos and executions of thousands of Chilean citizens in the aftermath, is well documented in files released by the the CIA, United States National Security Council (NSC), White House, DIA, and State Department.
Excerpts from these files were published in 2003 in “The Pinochet File” by Peter Kornbluh.
It is what it is.
9