A march in the centre of Mar del Plata as part of the National Women’s Encounter (ENM) was suppressed by police last night. At least three women were held by police inside the city’s Cathedral and many more were wounded.
Some 65,000 women took part in the 30th yearly ENM over the weekend. Attendees denounced being provoked by far right-wing groups throughout Saturday and Sunday, and being victims of police violence on Sunday’s march.
Women march through Mar del Plata (photo courtesy of ENM)
Aylín Palacios, from the Frente Popular Darío Santillán, said on Radio Continental that the police attack begun as the women from the National Campaign for a Legal, Safe, and Free Abortion arrived at the square in front of the Cathedral and lit a bonfire with cardboard boxes. At first, there were some light altercations between the protesters, catholic activists, and a small number of police officers —not uncommon at these marches. However, Palacios recounted, “then they threw down the fences [that were protecting the church] and sent a whole other group of policemen who started the repression. And it wasn’t just tear gases this year —they were shooting bullets.”
Reports indicate that the activists waiting at the Cathedral were led by Carlos Pampillón from the right-wing Foro Nacional Patriótico, a nationalist group which vindicates the last military dictatorship and is known for its racist and anti-semitic positions.
As a result of the incidents, several protesters were hit by rubber bullets and at least three women were retained by the police inside the Cathedral in the evening, and released later that night. Also, a woman reported being raped while she slept at a university campus and was hospitalised.
The ENM takes place every year on the October long weekend, in a different city each year. Thousands of women congregate to participate in different workshops on a variety of topics throughout the weekend —this year, the focus was on gender violence. The march traditionally takes place on Sunday and finishes at the local cathedral.
“No more femicides”, “No more violence”, “No more people trafficking”, and “Legalise abortion” read some of the banners at yesterday’s march.
“The city streets were flooded by struggle, by strength, and by slogans which more than ever expressed how current #NiUnaMenos is and the demand for a [declaration of] National Emergency in Sexual and Domestic Violence,” said the event’s organisers, who highlighted that the protesters marched successfully through other places in the city that are meaningful to women’s struggles. They “strongly repudiate the repression and the violence exercised hours later against women’s groups which made their way to the Cathedral.”
Two femicides were reported in Mar del Plata while the ENM took place.
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