Demonstrators march to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, in Lima, Peru, on November 25, 2020. (Photo by Reuters)

Latin American women marched on Wednesday, November 25, to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women in the region.

Women from Chile, Peru, and Bolivia took to the streets of main Latin American cities to highlight how lockdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic had left many trapped with their abusers and exposed to greater danger.

Lockdowns around Latin America are helping slow the spread of COVID-19, but are having a darker and less-intended consequence: a rise in domestic abuse, in a region where almost 20 million women and girls suffer sexual and physical violence each year.

Mexican women also marched to the government palace and clashed with police officers, who were dressed in riot gear and used fire extinguishers to stem the demonstration. Protesters demanded that authorities need to do more to stop femicides in the country.

An average of ten women a day are killed in Mexico. Last year, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s first year in government, marked a new overall homicide record. Victims of femicide increased by 10% in 2019 to over 1,000.

In Latin America, the fear is that violence against women that was already prevalent is being exacerbated further. The region has seen huge marches and strikes by women over the last year against male aggression and abuse.

(Source: Reuters)