ADDED ON: 06/26/2018

Days in the Life of a Mexican Feminist Activist

06/25/2018 | Pacific Standard

Without a strong government response to the rampant presence of violence against women, the task of seeking justice is often left to grassroots organizers. It was May 3rd, 2017, 72 hours shy of Mother’s Day in Calatepec, a 361-person town two hours north of Puebla, Mexico, and Guadalupe Escobar was being disciplined. Sitting in a tiny classroom at the Jaime Torres Bodet Secondary School, the 14-year-old—“Lupita” to her family—felt shunned. Her teacher, Laura Elena Juárez, didn’t find her fit to participate in the school’s celebratory essay reading, and most of her class was outside enjoying festival music. Instead, she was given menial tasks in her classroom … Five days before the meeting at the Fiscalia, in midst of Sonia’s case, Arias and 10 other feminist activists walk one clear-sky Friday to the third floor of the Centro Integral de Servicios de Puebla, a modern-styled government building. With Arias is Mariel Cortés, a coordinator from Odesyr, a human rights coalition; and Gabriela Cabrera, a short-haired founder of El Taller, the first LGBT advocacy in Puebla.

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