Women chase away maskless Nazi men who protested abortion in Mexico

On International Women's Day, tens of thousands of people came together in Mexico to draw attention to issues of violence against women. Mexico City has seen a wave of femicides that have risen 137 percent over the past five years. More recently, the killings of Ingrid Escamilla, 25, who was murdered, skinned and disemboweled, and Fátima Cecilia Aldrighett, who was just 7 years old and whose body was found wrapped in a plastic bag had triggered the need for women to come together to stand in solidarity against gender-based atrocities. “They’re killing 10 women a day... the ones that we know about... in the country I’ve lived in my whole life, it’s unacceptable,” said preschool teacher Daniela Garcia, 33, reports Reuters. The recent kidnapping and murder of the 7-year-old girl, has also left her heartbroken. The protestors came together in solidarity to demand government action against it.

In the midst of this demonstration, a group of counter-protestors made Nazi salutes as they protested against abortion. A group of women clashed with them on Sunday outside Mexico City’s main cathedral. According to Dailydot, many men were seen making Nazi salutes and wearing swastika armbands. Twitter user @dulcerfer12 shared footage of the clash on the social media platform. The video shows women protestors and a man wearing an armband with a swastika and making the Nazi salute in a heated interaction. The man in the video can be seen being chased away with what seems like pepper spray being shot in his eyes. As the crowd gets more agitated and yells at him, he responds by holding up his arm in the Nazi salute. Emotions were running high in the city which saw a lot of violence that day with at least 65 people injured as of now.

The New York Times reports many activists spray-painted the names of women who were killed or who went missing in recent times. They did so in the main plaza of Mexico City’s historical center. It's clear that the women are coming together to fight for those who are not there to fight anymore. Many women decided to stand up and demand justice to make sure future generations don't have to suffer the same fate. 61-year-old Rita Hernández took her granddaughters along for the march without their father’s permission, because she knew he would have not allowed it. “It is important for them to fight for and change what we couldn’t,” said Hernández breaking down. “Enough is enough!” Her granddaughter Joana Monserrat García who is just 11 years old said, “My father does not let us cut our hair, wear tight jeans or have male friends,” Joana said as she marched with her sister and grandmother. “Those are rules I simply won’t obey anymore.” Lorena Wolffer, an artist and feminist activist shared, “It is no longer possible to continue living in a country where a woman can be murdered in a brutal way, without any consequence, and in a culture that allows for it to happen."

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador initially responded to the growing dissent by blaming the killings of women on “past neoliberal policies.” On Monday morning, Obrador said the feminist movement was fighting for a “legitimate” cause. But he redirected the argument towards his political opponents and claiming that they wanted to "see his government fail” by instigating the march. “I maintain that the main thing is to guarantee the well-being of the people,” he said when asked how his administration would respond to the protesters’ demands. He added that he would “fight social and economic inequality, combat poverty and the disintegration of families.”