Women performance marchers protest presidential sexist comments

Dozens of women dressed in black and banging pots and pans while they chanted: We are here,”Mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts … we are here”  took part in a performance march from Calle  50 to the National Assembly on Wednesday, September 2  to protest “great evils”  suffered during five months of confinement.

The demonstrators organized by feminist groups in the country voiced multiple concerns including the suspension of labor contracts, for the loss of thousands of jobs,  domestic violence, and femicides committed during quarantine and, they demanded that the solidarity bonus not be distributed with political criteria, and called for quality public education.

They advocated for a participatory, broad, and joint table, with representatives of feminist organizations to establish a roadmap with a gender perspective.

 They also demanded a public apology from President Laurentino Cortizo to all women in the country for his  “sexist comments” made in a public activity.

On August 18, the president reported that he was evaluating granting more exit time to women so that they could go to the beauty salon to get their keratin done. “I understand that the ladies require a little more than two hours for their hair, and I understand the problem of keratin, which requires more than two hours, and I hope that the Minister of Health comes with good news to solve it,” he said. At that time, women could only go out on the street for two hours on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.