The last friday March 8commemorated the International Women's Day with an unusual event in the Mexico City. Various streets of the city were dressed in purple for the early and unprecedented arrival of the jacarandas, creating a unique setting to welcome the busiest march in recent years. More than 180 thousand girls, young people and women they took to the streets to to protest of peaceful way in search of equal conditions and for the right to live a life free of violence.
That day, we all became jacarandas. However, numerous jacarandas were affected by the climate change and the disturbances in our high temperature which led them to bloom prematurely, putting their vitality and functionality at risk. However, they marched with fervor to protest: “Not one more”, “If they touch one, we will all respond.” Enough of the sexist violence in a femicidal country where every 2 hours a woman loses her life for the simple fact of being a woman!
The jacarandas sprouted forcefully and resiliently like us. But I still worry about his stability and well-being. I ask myself: What can I do for them? How do I help them? What the hell has to happen to create a stable and conducive environment for them? How to help them and save them from that inevitable tragic fate that awaits them?
What the wind whispers in this chaotic city is that the jacarandas have bloomed prematurely, sacrificing their well-being and joy by not finding an environment conducive to their development. Despite their resilience and strength, they are seriously threatened by the hostile conditions that surround them, which could result in a decrease in their vitality and a shortage of fruits both for them and for our environment.
Today the jacarandas resist because there is no other way out where drawing attention increases the risk. Today the jacarandas, despite this, march with us because that day we are all jacarandas and we are united by the same fight.
The grandiose march will be recorded in the annals of history, not only for the multitude of women and jacarandas who escorted us, beautifying each of our steps with their presence, but also for the disturbing realization of our growing number and the brave resistance of the jacarandas next to us. A powerful metaphor is woven between the jacarandas forced to bloom prematurely in the face of the adversities of the environment, and the countless women who also suffer from the lack of conditions conducive to a full life, in freedom and well-being.
The jacarandas that still persist represent that 73% of women who live with the constant fear of being victims of violence. The millions of women dedicated to care in Mexico, whose health and well-being are seriously affected; those exploited in a cruel trafficking market, where 70% are girls and women. There are also those abused women in politics; those harassed in their workplaces; those who work informally without access to a fair pension for their retirement; those who receive less remuneration despite working more than men; those revictimized by the authorities; those subjected to psychological manipulations suffering a suffocating reality for their lives. Those beaten, assaulted, raped, treated as mere decorative objects instead of human beings; domestic workers whose benefits are not recognized.
The March 8 march was a powerful act of resistance and solidarity. However, in this paradoxical period called women's time, it is imperative to forge the conditions conducive to the flowering of us jacarandas who still resist, since the consequences could be even more dire for us and our environments.
In memory of the jacarandas that no longer dance with the spring breeze, in honor of us, those who still persist in the midst of adversity, and for the future of the new generations of jacarandas.
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Additionally, she studied English for two years at the University of Lake County in Illinois and has a Diploma in Human Rights from a Gender Perspective from the National Human Rights Commission.
Originally from Culiacán, Sinaloa, she lives in Mexico City, where she has worked in different federal agencies, recently as director of Budget Evaluation in the General Directorate of Programming and Budget, and Area Director in the General Directorate of Material Resources and General Services of the Ministry of the Interior. Currently, she is Secretary of Presentation Support in the Federal Judiciary Council of the Judicial Branch of the Federation.
She has specialized in issues of gender equality, labor matters and human rights through courses and research work. She has participated as a guest columnist in various media outlets, and has also been invited to participate as a commentator on the Mexican Government's Radio Educación.
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