Original article: 500 mil mujeres y disidencias coparon las calles de Santiago: “Lo que ganamos luchando, lo defendemos luchando”

500,000 Women and Gender Minorities Take to Santiago’s Streets: «What We Earned Through Struggle, We Defend Through Struggle»

A massive march filled the streets of Santiago this Sunday in celebration of International Women’s Day. According to the Feminist Coordinator 8M, the mobilization stretched from Plaza Italia to Los Héroes metro station, gathering 500,000 women and gender minorities who raised their voices to demand labor and social rights while expressing criticism toward the incoming far-right government, emphasizing that «what we earned through struggle, we defend through struggle.»

«Today, we were 500,000 women and gender minors who came together to march in Santiago. We are certain that we have each other’s backs as we navigate this new political cycle united, continually advocating for our rights,» said representatives from the group.

The hundreds of thousands of women who took to the streets are aware of their true urgent needs, which include: «an end to violence, housing, decent work, abortion laws, comprehensive sexual education, and caregiving.»

In a statement published on their social media, they reaffirmed their commitment to protecting the rights and achievements gained in recent years amidst the threats posed by the rise of a far-right government under elected president, José Antonio Kast.

«We are in the streets confronting the approaching far-right government because what we won through struggle, we will defend through struggle,» the Coordinadora stated.

«Not a Step Back, a Hundred Steps Forward»

The mobilization taking place in Santiago and other cities across Chile under the slogan: «Not a Step Back, a Hundred Steps Forward,» aimed to commemorate the historic fight and determination of feminisms «during a time when violence is escalating in various regions worldwide alongside the rise of far-right power and their global alliances.»

«We are alarmed to see how security rhetoric utilizes fear to promote narratives of hate and create enemies within the collective imagination, targeting migrant populations, racialized individuals, feminists, trans individuals, among others. For conservative and far-right sectors, the blame always falls on historically marginalized groups,» stated the collective in a declaration.

«In the face of these terror-filled discourses and death policies, we preserve our memory and recall the first mobilization called on March 8 by the Chilean Women’s Emancipation Movement (MENCH) in 1936, as well as the insistence, persistence, and tenacity demonstrated by organized women working alongside other social movements,» they emphasized.

They recalled that the political organization of women throughout history is what has allowed the collective «to advance in sexual and reproductive health, divorce, voting rights, and establishing the horizons that keep us mobilized today.»

However, the Coordinadora Feminista 8M warned that extreme violence against women has not diminished and primarily occurs within households and digital platforms. They also referred to the «shameful bill being drafted in the Senate right now» that regulates the suspension and alternative compliance of prison sentences for convicts suffering from terminal illnesses, severe disabilities, or exceeding a certain age.

«To even suggest that perpetrators of crimes against humanity, femicides, and other aggressors could have their sentences combined is a serious affront to our nation’s history. Releasing criminals such as Miguel Krasnoff, Julio Pérez Silva, or Hugo Bustamante would destroy what has been achieved in terms of truth, justice, and women’s rights,» they stated.

In light of this situation, they expressed their firm conviction «to be an organized and revolutionary historical movement: we will resist their death policies with collective will. We know how to challenge the established order, and that is what we will do.»

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