“Ni Una Menos”: Femicides and the Fight for Legal Abortion in Latin America

Before the “Me Too” movement empowered women around the world and enabled them to tell their stories about sexual abuse, “Ni Una Menos” had already been present in Latin America for many years. This feminist group opposes violence against women and its tragic consequence, femicide.

How did “Ni Una Menos” begin?

On June 3rd, 2015, “Ni Una Menos” was born, motivated by the impotence that the femicide of 14-year-old Chiara Páez in Santa Fe, Argentina, caused around the country. As a consequence of the brutal crime, thousands of women came together to march against violence toward women and to demand that there be measures put in place to end any expression of hate based on gender.

A month earlier, in May 2015, Chiara, who was two months pregnant, was beaten to death by her boyfriend, Manuel Mansilla, and buried in his grandparents’ backyard. However, what happened to Chiara was not an isolated event, but one of the countless others in a country where a woman is murdered every 28 hours.

In the midst of the widespread horror, journalist Marcela Ojeda used her social media to call upon every woman in the country to do something and stop the murders: “Actresses, politicians, artists, businesswomen, social leaders, women, all of them. Aren’t we going to raise our voices? THEY ARE KILLING US.”

A few days later, the slogan “Ni Una Menos” was created. Thousands and thousands of women in 80 different cities in Argentina started a movement that later expanded throughout Latin America and even to Spain.

Since that tragic June 3rd, almost eight years ago, and up till 2022, there have been almost 2,000 femicides, more than 50 transfemicides, and 190 gender-based murders.

In addition to the mobilization in Argentina, protests and rallies against violence against women were held in Chile, Uruguay, Peru, and Mexico. In 2016, the movement returned with more strength but more pain; demonstrations were repeated on June 3rd and October 19th after the horrifying case of Lucía Pérez, a teenager who was raped and murdered in Mar del Plata. The femicide re-ignited the flame and evoked more protests in Chile, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, Bolivia, Guatemala, Ecuador, and Brazil.

In 2021, at least 4,473 women were murdered due to their gender in 29 Latin American and Caribbean countries and territories- 12 every day- according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.

What does the green scarf mean?

Throughout many feminist movements, three main colors are often present: purple, orange, and green. Purple represents the feminist fight for women’s rights, orange calls for the separation of Church and State, and green is the color that portrays the fight for legal abortion.

The green scarf was created in 2003 during the XVIII National Meeting of Women in Rosario, Argentina. Two years later, in 2005, the National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe, and Free Abortion was born, and the green scarf was adopted to represent the movement.

The scarf is also a reference to the white scarves worn by the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. Its color was chosen as a representation of hope and because it was not associated with any other social or political movement in Argentina. Written on the scarf is the phrase “Sex education to decide, contraceptives to avoid abortion, legal abortion to avoid death.”

The green scarf gradually became popular, as it frequently appeared in the “Ni Una Menos” protests. However, women started wearing them on their wrists and backpacks daily, in order to show support for the movement, and other women, every day. In response to this, the Argentine anti-abortion movement created a light blue scarf with the emblem “In favor of both lives.”

The scarves crossed borders and were eventually used in marches in Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and other Latin American countries, as well as the United States, especially during the overturn of Roe vs. Wade in 2022.

Legal abortion in Argentina and Latin America

Argentina established the decriminalization of therapeutic abortion and abortion due to rape in 1921. Feminist movements started to demand the voluntary termination of pregnancy for any reason in the 1970s. In 2005, the National Campaign for Legal, Safe, and Free Abortion, an organization that leads the cause for abortion legalization in Argentina, was founded, and, since 2007, the Campaign annually submitted an abortion legalization bill to the National Congress. However,  it was added to the legislative agenda for the first time in 2018.

The Chamber of Deputies passed the bill, but it was rejected by the Senate. In 2020, newly elected President Alberto Fernandez fulfilled his campaign promise and sent a new, government-sponsored bill for legalizing abortion on request up to the 14th week of pregnancy. It was passed again by the Chamber of Deputies, and this time, by the Senate, in December 2020.

Only five other Latin or South American countries have legalized abortion on request: Cuba in 1965, Puerto Rico in 1974, Guyana in 1995, Uruguay in 2012, and Colombia in 2022, as well as the states of CDMX (2007) and Oaxaca (2019) in Mexico.

Paraguay, Venezuela, Guatemala, Peru, and Costa Rica have some of the most restrictive laws and only allow abortions if the life or health of the pregnant woman is in danger. Some countries, such as Chile and Brazil, also include the variables of rape and if a fetus is viable in their penal codes.

In Bolivia, incest is also included, and, in the case of Belize, socioeconomic factors. In Ecuador, there are three grounds for abortion: if the life or health of the woman is at risk, the non-viability of the fetus, and rape.

Check our Women’s Special Mujeres In Charge to hear some amazing latinas sharing their journey!