Mexican women protest murders of activists, target monuments

Several hundred feminist activists warmed up with chants Saturday next to a monument to murdered Mexican women before filling a street in capital and dousing female police officers with red paint. It was latest in a series of rowdy all-female protests that have flooded central avenues since August when thousands of women took to streets of Mexico City in anger over alleged rape of a teenr by city police and rampant violence against women.

w, feminists mselves feel like targets after two of ir fellow activists were murdered this month in different parts of country. “Once again women are taking to streets to shout to society that y are killing us,” said Nelly Ornelas, 24, who belongs to a collective called Love is t Violence, which seeks to stamp out domestic violence.

On aver, 10 women are murdered every day in Mexico, making it one of most dangerous countries in world for women. Only one of every 10 reported crimes in Mexico results in jail time. Ornelas thinks shooting death last week of women's rights activist Isabel Cabanillas in Ciud Juarez, a city just south of El Paso, Texas, was meant as a mess to women who are fighting for greater safety.

“Since authorities are indifferent, lazy, men think that y can keep killing women. So feminists, we are going to keep going out until y learn to respect us,” said Ornelas. Nearby, mors and sisters of murdered women took turns at a microphone to describe how ir girls were murdered, and how, years later, perpetrators remain free. Many family members receive death threats for ir pursuit of justice.

Tears streamed down face of teenr Tessa Lagunas as she listened to tales. “Sometimes I feel like staying home and t going anywhere,” she said, as her mor consoled her.

In August, female protesters shocked Mexico by trashing a bus station, police precinct and spray-painting messs like “rape state” onto base of Angel of Independence, a major monument in capital topped by a female angel. Those who complained about graffiti, protesters argued, care more about status than real women.

Defacing monuments along city's stately Reforma Avenue has since become a priority for some, who wear masks to conceal ir identities. On Saturday masked protesters poured red paint onto a statue of a man riding a pegasus, threw a flaming projectile at a statue of explorer Christopher Columbus and tied a green bandanna -a symbol of abortion rights- around ankle of a statue of French chemist Louis Pasteur.

“It's a way to get our anger out and also to give visibility to movement,” said a 19-year-old with a black mask on her face. Lines of female police in riot helmets stood shoulder to shoulder in an effort to protect monuments. protesters shifted directions at several points, resulting in an elaborate game of cat and mouse that blocked traffic on key arteries for several hours.

protesters shouted “traitor!” at female officers, who pursed ir lips and resisted fighting back — even when one officer's uniform briefly caught fire from a Molotov cocktail. “Really, we are with m,” said a veteran female police officer whose face was splattered with red paint.