Shared sadness: A tribute to victims of femicide in Mexico

Times staff report
·1 min read

JUÁREZ ‒ Grieving mothers walked early Wednesday morning to the southern bank of the Rio Grande in Juárez to demand justice for their daughters who were murdered as the result of femicide — the killing of a woman or girl because of her gender.

Susana Montes Rodriguez, who lost her daughter Maria Guadalupe Montes Rodriguez in January 2009, helped dig a hole in the riverbank to place a pink cross as a memorial to all femicide victims as part of International Women's Day.

“Today is not a celebration, but a commemoration to bring awareness that they (victims) are not here with us and to ask authorities to continue to look for them,” Montes Rodriguez said. “We came to this place today to demonstrate our solidarity with women from the U.S. We share and feel the sadness that they feel.”

Montes Rodriguez's daughter disappeared after going shopping for shoes in downtown Juárez. She was later found dead in mass grave, where 25 women were found dead in El Arroyo del Navajo in the Valley of Juárez.

The mothers chanted, "Vivas se las llevaron, vivas las queremos" (They took them alive and alive we want them) as they walked to the U.S.-Mexico border. It's a cry, or grito, uttered by women across Latin America.

More: 'Search for me': Two missing Juárez women found slain days after disappearance

More: Memorial honors victims of femicide in Juárez

Women who have lost their daughters to femicides put a cross on the bank of the Rio Grande as part of a march calling for justice for women on International Women's Day on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, for women on both sides of the border in Juárez, Mexico.
Women who have lost their daughters to femicides put a cross on the bank of the Rio Grande as part of a march calling for justice for women on International Women's Day on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, for women on both sides of the border in Juárez, Mexico.
Susana Montes Rodriguez, whose daughter went missing and was found murdered, holds a cross with the photos of women murdered in Ju‡rez during a protest at the Paso del Norte Bridge in Juarez on International WomenÕs Day on March 8, 2023.
Susana Montes Rodriguez, whose daughter went missing and was found murdered, holds a cross with the photos of women murdered in Ju‡rez during a protest at the Paso del Norte Bridge in Juarez on International WomenÕs Day on March 8, 2023.
The names of women are set on a monument on the Paso del Norte Bridge as part of a march calling for justice for women on International WomenÕs Day on March 8, 2023 for women on both sides of the border in Ciudad Juarez.
The names of women are set on a monument on the Paso del Norte Bridge as part of a march calling for justice for women on International WomenÕs Day on March 8, 2023 for women on both sides of the border in Ciudad Juarez.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: International Women's Day: A tribute to victims of femicide in Mexico