How Latin America Took to the Streets on International Women’s Month

Being a feminist in Latin America isn’t easy, nor is being a woman. In a region where at least 19,254 femicides have been registered in the last five years, this year’s International Women’s Month carried a sense of urgency as a reflection of the many political shifts that are reshaping women’s lives across a turbulent region. 

International Women’s Day offers a kaleidoscopic view of women’s lives in Latin America, marked by challenges and contradictions, yet sustained by collective resistance. The day may be the highlight, but the whole month has become a continuous stage for activism, with cities hosting rallies, community gatherings, and cultural initiatives celebrating women and gender rights. 

Since the pandemic, participation in protests around women’s and gender rights has fluctuated across Latin America, with younger generations joining long-standing feminist movements. This, however, is not the case for all the countries in the region. 

While some forms of violence are rising across the region, media coverage of March 8 (8M in the following) protests has dropped by 61% between 2023 and 2026, according to Global News Group. This decline translates into less visibility for victims and survivors, greater isolation, reduced access to information and resources, and the kind of silence that allows violence to persist with impunity.

Caracas, Venezuela: No democracy without women

This year’s 8M march in Caracas unfolded amid one of the most abrupt political shifts in the country’s recent history. In January, Nicolás Maduro was captured during a U.S. operation, triggering a sudden transition of power. Vice President Delcy Rodríguez assumed the presidency on an interim basis, placing Venezuela, under the leadership of a woman for the first time in its history. Meanwhile, despite her exile, the opposition continues to rally around María Corina Machado, the country’s first Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.  

While the march wasn’t massive, demonstrators pushed the boundaries of what had long been silenced or criminalised, showing overtly political slogans and demands. Journalist Florantonia Singer notes in her coverage for El País that 'The presence of protesters in the streets chanting against the government was significant in a country that had largely stopped expressing itself publicly out of fear.' 

Alongside calls to end gender-based violence, protesters demanded the release of women political prisoners, fair wages, and guarantees for political dissent. One message of the protest was loud and clear: any democratic transition in Venezuela must include women, not only as symbols of change, but as active political subjects.

Melanie Agrinzones, a feminist activist and founder of Uquira, a collective that offers support for survivors of gender violence, told FairPlanet that the month has been filled with feminist and gender-focused activities: ‘There have been some academic activities, and community gatherings. Last year was an incredibly repressive year, so this year we had more engagement, more activities, and the participation of other human rights NGOs that go beyond the feminist scope.’  

Agrinzones also highlights that Venezuela is one of the countries in Latin America that has made no progress, but rather worsened, in gender equality, women’s rights, or gender public policies in the last three decades. ‘For a long time, we’ve been talking about the need for democracy, the impoverishment of women across the country, how the state is negligent in the face of gender violence, and there are no protection or autonomy laws.’ 

Venezuelan feminist activist Lety Tovar, co-founder of Encuentros Feministas, a space for monthly in-person discussions in Caracas on pressing feminist issues, said she was positively surprised by a new level of coordination among activists, collectives, and organisations across different political perspectives in a way she had not seen before. ‘We really tried to make this more than just 8M,’ she explained. ‘We spent weeks organising. We want to open up a broader conversation about how women can help build peace and democracy in Venezuela. That’s why we focused on creating multiple actions and gatherings throughout the month.’

Bogotá, Colombia: Political equality and safe spaces

In Bogotá, International Women’s Day took an unusual turn this year. The traditional March 8 protests were postponed due to a clash with legislative elections, shifting the focus from a single day of mobilisation to a month-long programme of cultural, political, and community events. ‘This made us reflect about our right to vote, a conquest that we might take for granted, but still incredibly relevant for women’s political participation,’ feminist journalist Lauren Franco told FairPlanet. 

While Franco highlights the growing presence of gender-diverse attendees and men in the 8M marches, Luciverso, a trans woman, performer, musician, and activist from Bogotá, told FairPlanet that the protests don’t feel safe for her: ‘We rarely attend those events because they tend to be very violent toward trans women. Lately, the violence against trans women has been at its worst, with one or two murders every week,’ she said.

She also noted that she has pushed for these spaces to be more inclusive of people with disabilities, noting that for many, especially those with severe disabilities, participation remains extremely difficult.

San Salvador, El Salvador: Fewer than ever

In San Salvador, the march was led by the Justicia para Beatriz movement, honouring a landmark case in the fight for abortion rights in El Salvador. The protest followed a route from Plaza del Divino Salvador del Mundo to Parque Cuscatlán, but drew a noticeably smaller and less organised crowd than in previous years.

‘I’ve been marching since 2018, and I’ve never seen something like this,’ photographer Natalia Alberto told FairPlanet. ‘There used to be a wide range of groups: agricultural workers, domestic workers, and environmental activists. This time, the presence of organised groups and collectives felt largely missing.’

El Salvador remains one of Latin America’s most restrictive environments for women, particularly in matters of reproductive rights. Although feminist movements have secured important legal progress after a long history of exclusion, these gains are now being reversed. Under an increasingly authoritarian model led by Nayib Bukele, women’s political participation is shrinking, and a renewed patriarchal agenda is reinstating traditional roles, placing women’s autonomy and fundamental rights under growing threat.

Alberto suggests that the small attendance cannot be separated from the broader political climate. Under the state of exception imposed by President Nayib Bukele, which only underlines stigma and criminalisation, public protest carries heightened risks. ‘There’s a strong discourse of stigma and criminalisation in El Salvador. Women have been imprisoned for protesting and denouncing violence,’ she said, noting that few slogans directly targeted the government. Instead, demonstrators focused on issues such as sexual violence and harassment, reflecting a movement navigating both resistance and restraint. 

Lima, Peru: Indigenous women upfront

In Lima, feminist organisations and social movements called for a major march on March 7 to mark International Women’s Day 2026, demanding structural reforms and political accountability. The mobilisation was set to begin at Parque Eduardo de Habich and end near the Palace of Justice, where participants planned to deliver public statements. Alongside the protests, local municipalities organised a range of public events throughout the weekend: concerts, cultural activities, health campaigns, and community festivals.

The march also brought together diverse voices, including Indigenous women leaders from the Amazon region, who travelled to the capital to denounce widespread sexual violence against children and demand justice and protection for victims.

Pierina Sora, a journalist based in Lima and co-founder of Cápsula Migrante, told FairPlanet that she saw a huge interest in amplifying messages about child abuse and teenage and child pregnancies. ‘It should be noted that we have a new president this year, José María Balcázar, who is reportedly a public defender of child marriage. I believe this is a direct response to those narratives and policies that are gaining power in Ecuador.’

Sora also explained that last year, the 8M march ended with repression by the police forces, so protesters were vigilant of police presence this year. 

Buenos Aires, Argentina: Rapists are governing you

In Buenos Aires, this year’s march carried a shift in direction and mood. For the first time, demonstrators did not march towards Congress but to Plaza de Mayo, directly facing the presidential palace. The change was symbolic, but the message was clear: rather than addressing lawmakers, protesters took their demands straight to President Javier Milei. 

The official mobilisation was also moved to Monday, March 9, to align with a national strike, splitting participation between those who marched on Sunday, March 8, and those who joined the main call the following day. 

Feminist activist Majo Montilla told FairPlanet she noticed a smaller turnout than in previous years: ‘There’s still anger, but it feels different,’ she told FairPlanet from Buenos Aires. ‘It’s as if the rage has turned into a kind of bitter resignation. People are more stunned, less reactive.’ Montilla said that much of the focus was squarely on President Javier Milei and his administration. ‘I saw many posters reading “femicidal state,” “Milei clown,” and “Milei misogynist,”’ she said. Some of the slogans were new, at least in her experience, including one that read, 'rapists are governing you.’

The march unfolded in a tense political context. Recent labour reforms have significantly curtailed workers’ rights, while proposals such as rolling back glacier protection laws have sparked further outrage. 

Over the past two years under Milei’s government, the rollback has been severe. ‘There has been an escalation of hate speech, especially misogynistic rhetoric, a denial of gender identity, an effort to remove femicide as a criminal category, and, essentially, the dismantling of gender perspective as a state policy,’ Montilla explained.

This 8M in Buenos Aires reflected how feminist demands have become intertwined with broader social and economic grievances.

Santiago de Chile, Chile: Defying the alt-right

Organisers estimate that some 500,000 people took to the streets of Santiago on 8M, making it the country’s largest protest since the pandemic. Demonstrations continued beyond the day, with marches held across more than 20 cities on Sunday and Monday. ‘I was impressed by how many children were participating in the protest. It made the protest seem very celebratory, with singing, performance, and dance,’ Samantha Mesones, a Venezuelan feminist and migrant who has lived in Santiago for almost a decade, told FairPlanet. She went to the protest accompanied by her husband and six-year-old daughter, who was there for her first time. ‘My daughter felt safe and excited to learn about the protest songs.’  

The mobilisation comes at a moment of huge political change. In a matter of days, José Antonio Kast of the Republican Party would assume the presidency, becoming the most right-wing leader Chile has had since the end of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship. ‘There were a lot of censored swastikas, in reference to Kast’s family history, and most of the songs were about his right-wing and ultra-conservative views,’ Mesones explains. 

For Hilda Carrera, a writer and feminist from Santiago, activism has been a lifelong practice. She first became politically active as a teenager under the dictatorship. Today, she is part of Bordadoras en Resistencia, a collective that turns textile work into a form of protest. Together, they produce large embroidered banners around shared themes, each woman contributing her own piece. ‘What matters most is the message,’ Carrera says. This year, they honoured Chilean women writers; in the past, they have stitched tributes to environmental defenders and women advocating for Palestine.

In her coverage for OpenDemocracy, feminist journalist Naomi Larsson Piñeda describes the overall feeling as filled with uncertainty: ‘Despite political uncertainty, activists remain committed to pushing forward long-standing demands, including the right to abortion. On March 3, the health commission of Chile’s Chamber of Deputies approved a bill that would legalise abortion up to 14 weeks of pregnancy, a proposal first introduced by the progressive administration of Gabriel Boric in May 2025,’ Larsson Piñeda writes.