Dear Sir,
I am sorry to see so many media, including the Guadalajara Reporter, reporting ex-Roman Catholic Archbishop Sandoval Íñiguez’s opinions about Dia de la Mujer.
Sandoval Íñiguez is now in his mid-eighties and has been retired for about eight years, but he still expresses extremely conservative ideas that few leaders share, including, as you mentioned in your article, the present government and Roman Catholic leadership in Guadalajara.
Surely Sandoval Íñiguez did many good things during his career, but in my personal opinion as a priest and educator in the Anglican Church of Mexico in Guadalajara for 17 years, his current conspiracy theories about the Mexican feminist movement are an embarrassment to most people of faith. Sandoval Íñiguez’s opinions make interesting reading but they are not typical of Guadalajara and Mexico in the 21st century.
Rev. Manuel Sonora, Priest at St. Mark’s Anglican/Episcopal Church, Guadalajara
Dear Sir,
Moved by the wave of violence that we are currently experiencing, the group of women that participated in the March 8 protest in Chapala chose to generate awareness and make femicide and sexual harassment visible on the International Day of Working Women.
We want to thank all the people who got involved in this event, including those who organized and participated in the activities by donating pairs of red shoes before and during the demonstration. Thanks also to the brave women who answered the harassment survey, as well as those who prepared posters and narrated their experiences, and especially the students and staff of the Chapala Regional High School who lent their material to the protest. Special thanks to those who used their voices, such as Zaida Cristina Reynoso Camacho and María de Jesús González, who spoke about the women of Ciudad Juarez, Noris Binet and Esveidi Svadhisthana Arechar Peralta, to the Rondalla Femenil of Chapala and to all those who without fear shouted “NOT ONE LESS” (“NI UNA MENOS”).
We understand and respect the pain of all Mexican women and we believe that each community has its way of manifesting and expressing this pain. In Chapala we opted for conversation, consensus and artistic expression to create a safe environment where, without knowing each other, we could exchange ideas and experiences without fear of being judged. We also found that social media can be a useful tool but that we each have the responsibility to participate if we want to effect change.
During the event, data was collected from a survey on harassment and violence. One hundred and five women were surveyed in two hours. Ninety-six percent of the participants said they had suffered sexual harassment in their lives. The most common forms of abuse they have suffered has been physical and psychological. The most common locations of these attacks were on the street, at school and in their own home. Fifty-five percent of the women in this sample were violated for the first time when they were just girls. Sixty percent knew the name of their abuser.
We collected a directory of women professionals and service providers from the municipality who declared themselves willing to help in their professional capacity, promoting a secure platform for women in the community which will be shared in the coming days.
This was a first step, between us and for us. We hope that this respect and active participation prevail, to improve day by day the panorama of our beloved community and country.
Collectivo 8 de Marzo 2020, Chapala, Jalisco