Venezuelans protest femicide after three women killed
- The protests against the gender-relating killing of women and girls occurred in the agricultural state of Portuguesa
- Promising ‘maximum justice’ Attorney General Tarek William Saab announced investigations into the murders of two of the women
More than 300 demonstrators gathered in Venezuela’s agricultural Portuguesa state following the murder of three young women last week, in a protest against femicide, the gender-related killing of women and girls.
Chanting for “Justice” and holding balloons with the phrase “Not one more” written in black marker, women and men marched peacefully on Saturday in the northern city of Acarigua, where drivers honked horns in support, as protesters also gathered in the capital of Caracas.
“We are afraid,” said Ariadna Gonzalez, a 22-year-old psychology student, who was holding up a banner with the message: “Being alive should not be an achievement.”
The succession of murders began last Sunday with the killing of Eliannys Martinez, 17, after she attended an evangelical church in the town of Turen, some 30 kilometres from Acarigua.
In the same town, Eduarlis Falcon, 20, was murdered after leaving her house on Monday to go to the gym.
Both women bore signs of sexual violence, according to local press reports.