On 9 November 2020, Quetzaly Rojas, a young human rights defender who speaks out for women’s rights in Mexico, took to the streets to demand justice for the killing of a woman in her community. Police violently repressed the protest, firing live ammunition into the air to disperse the crowd. They detained Quetzaly and dragged her into Cancún’s City Hall building, outside of which the protest was taking place. There, they beat her, kicked her, and a police officer sexually assaulted her.
Quetzaly’s story is not unique. Police often violently repress feminist protests by women in Mexico.
Amnesty International has documented multiple cases in which police arbitrarily detain women protesters, beat them and use sexual violence against them to punish them for participating in demonstrations.
All this in a country in which gender-based violence is rampant and an average of 10 women are killed every single day.
Together we can put an end to the repression of women’s protests in Mexico.
Sign the petition to send a message to the authorities.