"I Am Red Peak" Mobilization, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

WE ARE RED PEAKS AND WE CONDEMN THE PATRIARCHAL SYSTEM.

Violence against women is the worst violation of human rights. What is serious is the impunity enjoyed by those responsible for these crimes based on gender, in addition to the normalization of the physical, psychological, and sexual harm suffered by women, even when they are denied the freedom to work or make decisions for themselves.

On this occasion, the women summoned and self-summoned to participate in this street mobilization that takes the name of the "March of the Red Peaks," remembering other pioneering women in the defense of their human rights and the rights of other women who will continue the causes and struggles to overthrow the structures of the patriarchal system of domination, we take to the streets reaffirming our rebellions against the machismo that rapes, beats, threatens and kills the bodies of women.

We demand justice and we demand sufficient and dignified budgets commensurate with the importance of women as reproducers, not only of the workforce, but also of the culture we know and respect today as the social and political heritage of our people. We will not end gender-based violence with speeches and promises that are never kept. Public servants must demand guaranteed budgets that ensure the application of the laws, particularly Law 348, and stop mocking the expectations of the population that at one time even believed in their electoral promises.

One in three women worldwide suffers some form of sexist and/or gender-based violence.

In Bolivia in 2017, the Public Ministry registered 109 femicides, and this year, from January to August, it registered 76 femicides; in 2017, 30,743 cases of gender violence were registered, of which 7,872 occurred in Santa Cruz.

Bolivia has the second highest rate of sexual violence in Latin America, with 14,000 reports of sexual violence against women, girls, and adolescents filed each year. Sixty percent of these cases occur in the victims' own homes. The report also reveals that of the cases that go to court, only 0.04 percent result in a conviction. Approximately 185 abortions are performed daily in Bolivia, making it the third leading cause of death in the country and the second leading cause in the department of Santa Cruz.

These numbers represent stories of women who suffer male violence simply for being women; they are mothers, sisters, daughters, and partners who grew tired of silently enduring the horror of patriarchy and are here today making their voices heard and advocating a conspiratorial movement against inequalities and disrespect for differences.

Against violence, not one more death. My body is mine, it is not to be touched, violated, and respected.