Women march against gender-based violence

The movement "Ni Una Menos," or "Not One Less" marked its fifth anniversary with a protest in Plaza de Mayo during the mandatory COVID-19 lockdown, to demand a stop to femicides, the legalization of abortion, workplace equality, more budget to protect victims, among other demands.

The simmering outrage over the brutal spate of murders led 20 women - among them, artists, journalists, and lawyers - to create the group "Ni Una Menos," or Not One Less in 2015. The name comes from a poem about a massacre of women in Ciudad Juarez by Mexican writer Susana Chavez, who was killed in 2011. They embraced it because it meant that they would fight to prevent even one more killing.

They began organizing public readings on gender-based violence with family members of the victims. But when Chiara Paez, a 14-year-old pregnant girl was killed by her boyfriend and found buried in his family's yard, they decided it was enough.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of mostly women have marched every June 3rd to demand a stop to femicides.

The movement echoed internationally, and many capitals around the world replicated the demands.

The lockdown, in place since March 20th in Argentina, has made things worse for many women around the world.

In Argentina, according to the Ministry of Women, Genders, and Diversity, the request for help by women suffering gender violence increased by 39 per cent during the COVID-19 quarantine.

​According to the Femicides Observatory, there have been 57 femicides between March 20th and May 28th.