While hoping to see more positive news and moving stories about women on the occasion of International Women’s Day, I was shocked by what I saw on social media and news outlets.
- While hoping to see more positive news and moving stories about women on the occasion of International Women’s Day, I was shocked by what I saw on social media and news outlets.
- Most alarmingly, an average of 45% of these crimes are committed through domestic violence, with partners as the perpetrators.
Reports emerged of acts of vandalism in Mexico, Colombia, and other countries, where the right to protest and peaceful marches is increasingly being used as a pretext for going too far.
The economic damage caused by vandalism during Women’s Day marches to Bogotá’s mass transit system in Colombia amounted to over $18,000—equivalent to approximately 77 million Colombian pesos. This figure does not include the destruction of several cultural heritage sites in other cities like Medellín and Bucaramanga. What a disgrace! Once again, we feel secondhand embarrassment and national sorrow over such a distorted representation of what recognizing women’s rights and value should truly mean.
According to United Nations records, it is in Latin America and the Caribbean where the highest rates of femicide occur, with Brazil, Mexico, Honduras, and Colombia leading the list.
Most alarmingly, an average of 45% of these crimes are committed through domestic violence, with partners as the perpetrators.
Culture determines behavioral patterns, which are not an issue rooted solely in gender. At this point in the digital age, gender differences are minimal in practice. Fortunately, thanks to the efforts and leadership of women who achieved equality in civil rights, there is no longer a need to insist on radical feminist movements. Civil and social rights must be respected equally, without distinction by gender. The culture in which one is raised is where inherited behavioral patterns stigmatize men as sexist and women as feminists.
The excuse that women are subjugated, oppressed, and dominated is fading. Everyone—men, women, regardless of gender—has the right to defend their rights, but within what is legally and constitutionally permitted. This is not about dismissing the recognition of women but about rejecting actions that do not represent us.
Vandalism is an entirely intentional destructive behavior that manifests in unjustified hostile acts against public property or that of others. In many countries, it is considered a crime, and those who commit it can face legal consequences. Who said that destroying public property or a work of art is a way to claim a right? Vandalizing one of Fernando Botero’s works demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of Colombian art and what the artist sought to convey through the volume of bodies in his pieces.
The true recognition of the rights of women, men, and ultimately all citizens must focus on promoting more acts of respect and fewer violent and vandalistic actions.
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