[WHRD Alert] MEXICO / On 8M, we registered repression, attacks and arbitrary detentions of demonstrators in at least eleven states in the Republic.

On 8 March, we received reports of attacks perpetrated by public authorities against women who attended the marches for International Women’s Day in different states throughout the Mexican Republic. Attacks by anti-rights groups were also registered.

In Hidalgo and Chihuahua, we documented the arbitrary detention of demonstrators: seven in Hidalgo, four in Chihuahua and five in Coahuila. Among the latter was a trans woman who was also physically and verbally attacked by the police that detained her. All those detained have been released.

In Yucatan, Mexico State, Mexico City, Oaxaca, Chihuahua and Hidalgo, State security forces used tear gas against the demonstrators. In Hidalgo, there were also reports of beatings and kettling.

We also registered actions by anti-rights groups. In Veracruz, San Luis Potosi and Nuevo Leon, we documented attacks against journalists, one of which involved the theft of their work equipment; in Yucatan, there was a call on social media platforms for a march against a woman defender; and in Campeche, we registered cases of digital harassment, with images circulated against women defenders who were conducting protection activities during the march and the dissemination of false information about acts of violence that they allegedly committed at the demonstration.

IM-Defensoras’ registry of attacks against women defenders and our national women defenders networks has registered and denounced an increase in attacks during the month of March. Just in the last 5 years, we have documented 3,845 attacks against 633 women defenders and 63 organizations in Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua.

We denounce the aggression against all our sister defenders who were attacked and criminalized while exercising their legitimate right to protest, and we remind the authorities of their obligation to guarantee the protection of demonstrators and safeguard their lives and integrity.

We also demand the protection and shielding of our sisters from any act of violence or legal proceedings that they may be victims of as a consequence of their participation in 8M.

We ask the international community to join the demands for justice and protection guarantees for women human rights defenders in Mexico.

More alerts:

México [WHRD Alert] MEXICO / Zapotec woman defender Silvia Pérez has her home raided and computer equipment stolen, and faces constant harassment and threats.
Alerts [WHRD Alert] EL SALVADOR / Harassment, threats, criminalization and surveillance of the Santa Marta community and ADES Santa Marta by armed outfits.
Honduras [WHRD ALERT] HONDURAS / New armed attack against defenders from the Tranvio, Camarones and El Chile peasant cooperatives in the Aguan Valley.