Have you ever heard of femicide? This is the murder of women, because they are women. Femicide is a major social problem in Mexico, along with other forms of violence against women. During this program, feminist voices share their ideas about the causes of femicide and violence against women in Mexico. And they discuss what is needed to change the culture of violence. We do this with Norma Andrade, founder of the NGO ‘May our daughters return home’ and the band Snowapple. The band has just returned from a tour through Mexico where they were trying to draw attention to the problem through their music.

The term ‘femicide’ gained prominence through the South African feminist Diana Russell. She coined the word in 1976 to define extreme violence against women. The term received a lot of international attention after hundreds of young women were murdered in the Mexican city of Juárez. The United Nations and various human rights organizations have criticized local and national authorities in Mexico for doing too little to try and stop the killings and violence against women.

During this program we talk with Norma Andrade. Her daughter was killed in Juárez. Because the murderers have not been convicted, she founded together with other mothers the NGO ‘May our daughters return home’. With her and other feminists from Latin-America we discuss what needs to be done to change the culture of violence against women.

The band Snowapple will play various songs, including their new single La llorona – Ser mujer, which addresses the issue of Femicide. 

At the end of the program, we collectively raise a glass of Mezcal to the power of women and men all over the world who stand up for gender equality.

About the speakers

• Norma Andrade is one of the founding members of Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa A.C., a Mexican non-profit association of mothers whose daughters have been victims of female homicides in Ciudad Juárez. Norma’s daughter, Lilia Alejandra García Andrade, disappeared on February 14, 2001. On February 21, Lilia Alejandra’s body was found wrapped in a blanket. On her body were signs of physical and sexual assault. There have been two attacks on Norma, because of her work on femicide. Following the second attack on Norma’s life, a petition was started on Twitter requesting that Mexican President Felipe Calderon give Norma the protection she needs and deserves.
• Tamara Pels-Idrobo Tapia is a passionate Latin American feminist with more than 15 years of experience in social justice and the area of human rights for girls, women and trans people. Since 2010, Tamara has been Mama Cash’s Programme Associate for Latin America and the Caribbean, where she has been working and collaborating with feminist activists with the conviction that change is possible and it begins within people’s power to transform their own realities. Tamara believes in feminism as a means to transform societies into a diverse, safe, just, peaceful, pleasurable, equal and sustainable world. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia, and a master’s degree in social science with a focus on sexuality, gender, and culture from the University of Amsterdam.
• Myrna de la Peña was born and raised in South-East Mexico. She has lived for several years in The Hague, and has recently graduated in European Studies.Myrna describes herself as an intersectional feminist with a special interest in politics. She is interested in exploring the link between Mexican history and the current violence against women. She believes that the way forward is to start a national conversation, where stereotypes and traditional practices are questioned and critically analysed.
• Adriana Ronquillo is a Mexican multidisciplinary artist and a true lover of drawing. Her work constitutes a reflection on the conflictive relationship between humans and nature, the modern and the traditional. She made the video clip for La llorona – Ser mujer. 
• Catharina Rinzema (1985) has a background in law and philosophy and works for the Reading & Writing Foundation, an NGO aiming to reduce functional illiteracy both in the Netherlands and worldwide. Catharina is high on the list as candidate for the European Parliament on behalf of the Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s center-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). 
• Moderator is the Mexican social-anthropologist Cesar E. Merlín Escorza. He lives in the Netherlands since 2017, and is studying for a Master in Anthropology and Development Studies at Radboud University (Nijmegen).

About Snowapple

• Snowapple is a group of multi-instrumentalists and singers from Amsterdam and Mexico. The playing songs that they describe as pop/folk/opera/avant-garde-cumbia. The group is currently touring the US, Mexico and Europe and is working on their fourth studio album. Their music has been often played on BBC Radio, and they have made several appearances on international television.

Foto: by WikiCommons 

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