The recent death of 14-year old Chiara Paéz has angered many people in Argentina – as it should. Her boyfriend allegedly murdered her after a dispute over her unplanned pregnancy. A young girl being killed by her boyfriend is horrific enough, but the details are the sickening part. In summary: a young woman, who would not even be old enough to have a driver’s permit in the United States, was forcibly injected with drugs to induce an abortion, brutally beaten to death and then buried under her boyfriend’s porch.
I wish that I could say this event was the first of its kind, and that the people of Argentina are protesting out of shock and dismay, but that would be false. This crime is very similar to many that have occurred before it, and the people of Argentina are protesting because they are fed up with the lack of protection and respect that the government and the people are showing towards women.
According to a women’s rights group in South America, La Casa del Encuentro, a woman in Argentina is killed every 31 hours due to gender-based violence. The hashtag “Ni Una Menos,” which translates to “Not One Less,” has been trending on Twitter for over three weeks in Argentina and can be linked to thousands and thousands of posts every day. It is a really, really big deal, and it indicates a great deal of progress in Argentina for women’s rights. There are more than 100 thousand Argentine people flooding the streets of over 100 cities, demanding protection and progression for women in the country. It is absolutely impossible to ignore. Which is why it’s shocking when we do ignore it.
Domestic violence and murder are issues that are very much present in the U.S., even more so than in Argentina, from a statistical standpoint. According to the National Network to End Domestic Violence, 3 women die every single day because of domestic violence. 1,509 women were murdered by men they knew in 2011. Violence that inflicts death is not the only type of domestic violence that should be noted, however. 4.5 million women experience physical violence by an intimate partner every single year in the U.S., as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Femicide is real, and it is disgusting, immoral and unfair. Women are providers of life, yet their lives are being taken away. They create the very families that domestic violence destroys. The entire situation that domestic violence creates is unjust. The protests should not be limited to South America. Millions of people in the U.S. can relate to Chiara Paéz’s story. If so many people are being affected by a mutual entity in the two countries, it is only right for us to sympathize with our South American counterparts and engage in the movement. It is not realistic for all of America to travel to Buenos Aires to march in the protests, but it extremely realistic for Americans to educate themselves on the epidemic that is domestic violence. Be aware of the amount of violence that is inflicted on women in your own country, as well as others. Be aware of the signs of domestic violence, so that you can save a loved one if necessary. Be aware of how you can reverse the statistics and change the fate of millions of women throughout the world. Just be aware.