Latinx Solidarity to Challenge Violence Against Women
September 6, 2023
By Natalie Esparza
El estado Opresor es un macho violador (The oppressive state is a rapist)
“They say a woman’s first blood doesn’t come from between her legs but from biting her tongue.” Women speak the language of silence because to be a woman is to be a body first and a human when the patriarchy feels like being a “good man.” It is being killed based on your sex though data on femicides remains difficult to analyze as it wasn’t till 2017 that all Mexican states codified such a crime. It is why in 2019, only 8% of rape cases ended in convictions in Chile. Because what is womanhood if not begging to be believed?
Similarly, to be born a woman into the Latinx community, which thrives off self-denying mothers and machista men, is to be rolled out into a foundation, regardless of choice, and to be sentenced to a life of silence. With the addition of ethnic identity, Latina/x are deemed second-class citizens at both levels of gender and language. Thus, despite the legal improvements, this system continues to thrive off misogynistic rhetoric, allowing gender-based discrimination and increased femicides to go unpunished throughout Latin America.
The Latinx community is a resilient group comprising many beautiful cultures and diverse people. However, it is nothing without the women who are men’s genesis. To enact solidarity, the Latinx community must transform its patriarchal structure. It can do so by centralizing women’s voices, educating its youth, and challenging rhetoric at both the institutional and familial levels; thus, a web of intersections may begin to form.
Chilean Protest chant: Un violador en tu camino (A rapist in your way)
El patriarcado es un juez,
Que nos juzga por nacer
Y nuestro castigo
Es la violencia que no ves.
El patriarcado es un juez,
Que nos juzga por nacer
Y nuestro castigo
Es la violencia que no ves.
Es feminicido
Impunidad para el asesino
Es la desaparición
Es la violacíon
Y la culpa no era mía, ni dónde estaba, ni cómo vestía
Y la culpa no era mía, ni dónde estaba, ni cómo vestía
Y la culpa no era mía, ni dónde estaba, ni cómo vestía
Y la culpa no era mía, ni dónde estaba, ni cómo vestía
El violador eras tú
El violador eres tú
Son los pacos
Los jueces
El estado
El presidente
El estado opresor es un macho violador
El estado opresor es un macho violador
El violador eras tú
El violador eres tú
Duerme tranquila niña inocente,
Sin preocuparte del bandolero,
Que por tus sueños dulce
Y sonriente vela tu amante carabinero.
El violador eres tú
El violador eres tú
El violador eres tú
El violador eres tú
Natalie Esparza is a second year student majoring In Social and Behavioral Sciences with a minor in Pre-Law, from Los Angeles, CA.