Women hold huge rally in LA

BUENOS AIRES: Thousands of women across Latin America took to the streets Wednesday to demand an end to sexual harassment and violence, in a region where crime against women is rife and often steeped in traditional culture.

“March 8: If you stop a woman, you stop the world,” said a banner over a rally in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, that attracted tens of thousands of protesters marking International Women´s Day.

The gathering extended 1.5 kilometers along 18 de Julio Avenue, with demonstrators calling for an end to violence against women and equal rights.

“Sorry to bother, but we´re being killed,” said one handwritten message on a cardboard placard.

Argentina has had a woman president yet “machismo” is prevalent in many areas of society.

Every 30 hours, a woman in Argentina is killed by her male partner or ex-partner.

“Enough already! We want each other ALIVE,” read signs in purple lettering waved by the thousands who jammed the Plaza de Mayo in front of Argentina´s presidential palace.

Purple is the symbol of the movement against gender-based violence. Demonstrators largely were decked out in black to signify mourning.

Violence against women is part of long-held traditions in many of South America´s Andean nations, with mixed Spanish-indigenous cultures.

But it is also pervasive in countries such as Argentina and Uruguay where most people are of Italian descent.

Even in better-off cities across the region, women who go to police stations bruised and battered to report domestic violence are told to go home and make up.

Grimmer still: half of the 25 countries with the largest number of women killed are in Latin America, according to UN Women, a body that supports gender equality and the empowerment of women. In Mexico´s capital, thousands of women filled the vast Paseo de la Reforma.

“We don´t want flowers. We want rights!” they chanted, as well as, “Being a woman should not be a risk factor.”