History has always been considered to be evolving, constantly advancing, and making strides to a bigger, and better world. So why is it that women’s rights have remained stagnant? For centuries, women have been deemed less than, unworthy of maintaining a job of value, and have been repeatedly called “a distraction,” “weak,” and “just a child-bearer.” It is in recent years women have found their voice, starting a powerful movement leading to voting rights, jobs, education, and much more. Yet, even with these positive advances to provide women a better quality of life, it is still quite clear they are not as equal as men. Take wages, for example, men often receive a higher payment for the same amount of work or combat, why is it that armies are mostly male dominant? Policies like these have been in place for far too long, so it was only natural that as the world evolved so did the women. Women have been evolutionarily in history, from appointing emperors in China, to engaging in business in Egypt; no matter their role, they provided a solid foundation for outward success. Granting women their rights wasn’t just about equality, it truly represents giving more opportunities to young girls and women, and changing the way society operates for the better. In Mexico, women are fighting for their rights, they are fighting for people to see the violence they have suffered, the abuse, rape, and their pain. Anger has gripped Mexico and even Latin America because the women there are tired of the violence they face and they want a different outcome than the one they are getting; it does not matter if a woman reports abuse to law enforcement because even law enforcement can be passive or act abusively towards women reporting their case. The protests in Mexico have been violent, there have been items being smashed, broken glass everywhere, and the defacement of police stations. The statistic of women in Mexico that have experienced abuse or rape is unimaginably high, so it's only right that they choose to fight for their justice. These spiraling events are reminiscent of ancient Latin America where often in Amerindian societies Spanish men would rape and abuse the native women. In ancient times, women experienced multiple occasions of sexual violence and abuse; there the rape of women accompanied conquest in many places. Not to mention, enslaved women under the control of European men were sometimes forced to perform sexual services. Women of ancient times had no choice but to comply and keep quiet, not even the enslaved men could protect women from abuse. Besides the abolishment of slavery, not much has changed in Mexico since ancient Latin America; women are left to protect themselves and with the government showing little to no interest they are pushing the government into action. However, the mayor of Ecatepec--a town in Mexico--has told the women there are no funds to protect them, leaving women to carry pepper spray, whistles, and sharpened pencils in case of attacks. Unlike ancient times, the women in Mexico have found their voice and will not settle until the government has heard them and that they feel safe.
Work Cited
Villegas, Paulina, and Elisabeth Malkin. "'Not My Fault': Women in Mexico Fight Back Against Violence ." New York Times, Dec. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/12/26/world/americas/mexico-women-domestic-violence-femici
de.html?searchResultPosition=5. Accessed 11 Jan. 2020.
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About the Contributor
Staff Writer, Ava Lopez
