Marla Arce Pimienta, 19

“Ayotzinapa helped visualize the problem of violence in Mexico, but we’re forgetting that seven women are killed each day in my country.

“And women are the ones who are most affected by the violence of narco-trafficking and trafficking rings. I was first attracted to the feminist movement when I got involved in the student movement and saw that the men who talked the most about equality and horizontality were the first to relegate women in the movement. Decisions were not made equally.

“Feminism provides a more complete criticism of society and all the patriarchal constructs that are based on hierarchy. We are trying to create new relations that are more horizontal, where we look beyond sex and gender and see each other as people.

“I tell other women: don’t be a afraid of the feminist label, which tends to be criminalized in our society. The feminist label means we want to build a new world; so don’t be afraid of that word. If we don’t name ourselves, we don’t exist.”

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