Latin America is expecting a rush of street actions and activist initiatives on Wednesday, following promises by an array of civic groups to join a labor strike on International Women's Day. Organizers expect the work stoppages and protests to spread like two movements last October, #VivasNosQueremos (We Want Ourselves Alive) and #NiUnaMenos (Not One Less).


The protests last year started in Argentina in response to a series of brutal femicides that took place weeks earlier in different parts of the country. These demonstrations quickly spread to other parts of the region. Within days, there were protests in cities across Chile, Uruguay, Peru, Bolivia, and Mexico, with demonstrators chanting the same slogans, and campaigning on the same issues.

This year, numerous organizations throughout the region, both online and offline, have waged public-education initiatives and invited people to planned demonstrations, also asking women to join an international strike.

This Wednesday, people across Latin America will protest the fact that their region has some of the highest rates of femicide in the world. In Uruguay, for example, protesters are denouncing state officials’ failure to institute better protections for women, and speaking out against the rise of religious groups and the invisibility of populations of African descent:

In Argentina, the group Emergente will be publishing updates about the strike and street protests on Facebook and Twitter. On Tuesday, Emergente reported that some demonstrations kicked off early, beginning with protests staged by activists demanding more visibility and respect for the LGBTQ community.

In Paraguay, the civic-media organization TEDIC is joining the strike. In a statement published online, the group argued that violence against women can occur on the Internet, where it's not a given that technology automatically empowers women, the organization said:

Hmmmm If it make it 2 Frontpage, den FTC tinx Dedicated to my kid sis