There’s a lot to celebrate on International Women’s Day, but there’s also a lot that still needs to change. And that’s why, alongside the celebrations surrounding the day, there was also another message flying over the skies of Mexico City – one pledging to never forget the victims of violence against women.
Numerous tweets showed the blimp flying over the city yesterday, with messages promising no woman would be forgotten and reminding people that there are 10 deaths attributed to violence against women a day in Mexico.
The blimp was seen from the sky in many of the areas where the government has erected fences to protect monuments before the expected commemorative march. Several tweets made reference to this fact, proclaiming “if they build fences, we’ll take to the sky.”
Homicide numbers directly tied to violence against women in Mexico support the message. There have been 75 femicides in Mexico this year alone, and in 2021 the number of cases was 503 according to the Executive Secretary of Public Security. Despite this, however, the government has invested more in the fencing to protect the monuments than it has in the units dedicated to preventing and giving support to victims of violence against women.
“With this action we publicly express that we are fed up with impunity, and we seek to open a conversation so that as a society we question gender-based violence and we urge the authorities, once again, to listen to us.” The feminist group on board the blimp said in a statement.
The group also expressed they had taken to the skies because there they can be closer to the victims they are speaking for.
