Protests in Mexico City Over Murders of Womena and Sensationalism in the Press

Large crowds of people gathered in Mexico City yesterday to protest against the murder of a young woman.  25-year-old Ingrid Escamilla was stabbed to death by a man she lived with, who then mutilated her body in an attempt to hide the evidence.

Forensic workers leaked grisly images of her corpse to the city's largest daily newspaper, La Prensa.  The editors of the paper have been criticized harshly for publishing one of the pictures of the skinned and dismembered corpse on its front page, with the headline 'It was cupid's fault". The cover sparked anger not only at the gory display, but also the jocular tone over a crime for which Escamilla's domestic partner has been arrested.

Femicide, the gender-based killing of women, is on the rise in Mexico.  More than 700 cases are currently being investigated, but activists say the number of women killed because of their gender is much higher.

The protesters, most of them women, moved through the Mexican capital holding placards calling for "responsible journalism," and chanting slogans like "not one more murder".   The group gathered outside of the city's National Palace, where President Andrés Manuel López Obrador lives with his family.  "It seems to me the president has evaded the issue constantly," one protester, Alejandro Castillo, said.  "It is not a personal issue against him.  We believe he has the possibility of raising several things on the agenda and has not done so."  Protesters spray-painted slogans such as 'femicide state' and 'We won't be silenced' on the doorway of the National Palace as President Obrador was holding his daily news conference inside.  The protesters released a statement which said, "it enrages us how Ingrid was killed, and how the media put her body on display."

Earlier this month, many Mexicans flooded social media with photos of wildlife and natural landscapes, using the hashtag #IngridEscamilla to drown out the photos of her body circulating online.  Her murder has shocked the country, but is only the latest in a string of slayings that have brought the issue of femicide into public debate.  Last year a record high of 3,825 women were killed in Mexico, according to official figures - up 7% from 2018.  Activists are critical of the fact that the vast majority of cases are never solved and only a tiny percentage of perpetrators are brought to justice.