Mexico: Protests Against Killings and Disappearances of Women in the Country Held After Debanhi Escobar's Death

Hundreds of women from Mexico flooded the streets of downtown Mexico City and other parts of the country on Sunday to protest the dangers faced by their community. This is after the death of the missing 18-year-old girl, Debanhi Escobar.

The protests reportedly started on Friday, with different areas filled with demonstrators to contest Escobar's death, as well as their cry on the violence that occurs among women in the country, according to Fresnobee.

In Mexico City, Associated Press reported that the demonstrations were peaceful as the protesters taped small missing posters on an angel monumental shaft that commemorates the country's independence.

The outlet noted that most of the posts on the monument depicted Debanhi Escobar, a teenager who went missing for at least two weeks before she was found dead in Monterrey.

Reports claim that previous women's rights demonstrations spray-painted slogans on the said monument.

Protesters in the Attorney General's Office placed flowers and photographs of women who had gone missing or murdered.

Demonstrations also occurred in the suburb of Nezahualcoyotl, where protesters carried signs that read "No to harassment" and "Mexico is a Mass Grave." AP mentioned that at least two women from the said area were killed last week.

In Nuevo Leon's capital, Monterrey, at least 1,500 people, mostly women, marched demanding explanations of Debanhi's death.

Mexico: Death of Missing Teenager, Debanhi Escobar

The women's protests in Mexico erupted after Debanhi Escobar's decomposing body was found in a subterranean water tank in a motel, per NPR.

On Friday, Assistant Public Safety Secretary Ricardo Mejia said that the woman's body in the water tank matched the clothing and the crucifix necklace reported to be worn by the teenager the night she disappeared.

Mejia pointed out that the alert was sounded by the hotel workers because "fetid odors" were coming from the area. Escobar's body was reportedly submerged for nearly two weeks in the water.

AP noted that the teenager died from a blow to the head, which the outlet claimed happened after she was last seen on April 8, but Fresnobee reported that Escobar attended a party on April 9.

Fresnobee noted that Escobar left the party in a cab from which she got down.

Mario Escobar, Debanhi's father, said that prosecutors told him about surveillance footage that revealed the cab driver inappropriately touching the teenager. The father belied that the teenager did not put up with the situation, that's why she went out of the car.

The driver then took a photo of Debanhi on the outskirts of Monterrey.

Nobody saw the teenager since then until she was discovered in the water tank, per AP.

Dangers Against Women in Mexico

Debanhi Escobar was not the only woman who experienced violence in the country.

According to Fresnobee, more than 10 women are murdered in Mexico every day. The outlet reported that in 2021, over 1,000 women were killed in gender violence.

Mexico's National Search Commission revealed that there were 2,0148 missing or unaccounted for women in the country. Most of the victims were reportedly between 15 and 19 years old, per The Yucatan Times.

Debanhi Escobar is among the 2,000 women reported missing in Mexico so far in 2022, the outlet added, citing federal government figures and the registry of the National Search Commission.

"Mexico is a country where we have, effectively, almost 100 thousand missing persons. One-fifth are women, and I think it is important to remember that many of those reported missing are later victims of femicide," Amnesty International Mexico Director Edith Olivarez Perreto said, per Yucatan Times.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written By: Joshua Summers

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