This year, Mexico City honored the victims and rescue workers of last month’s devastating earthquake. During Mexico City’s second annual Dia de los Muertos parade, the men, women and dogs who participated in rescue efforts followed a “fist float,” made up of helmets, pick axes and rubble. The raised fist was a signal used during rescue efforts to silence crowds in order to hear if people were trapped under collapsed buildings. The earthquake killed nearly 500 people, with 228 dead in the capital alone.
And if that number wasn’t high enough, the country must also honor the women and girls murdered as a result of Mexico’s high levels of violence against women. Major protests broke out in Mexico in September after a 19 year-old was found dead after using a ride-hailing app. Up until September, at least 83 women had been killed in the state of Puebla since the beginning of the year. And looking at government statistics, about 66 percent of women and children over the age of 15 have reported being sexually abused at least once. These numbers and other factors like access to healthcare and economic opportunities are some of the reasons why Mexico City has been ranked the 6th most dangerous megacity in the world by the Thomas Reuters Foundation. What better way to honor these innocent lives than by passing and enforcing legislation protecting women and girls against gender-based violence. That would make a one-of-a-kind “ofrenda.”
