Ni Miedosas, Ni Obedientes, Ni Submisas Not Afraid, Not Obedient, Not Submissive Gran Om & Kloer Digital print, 2020 Mexico City, Mexico
On Sept 11, 1973, the democratically elected government of Chilean President Salvador Allende was overthrown by a U.S.-supported military coup. During the 17-year-long brutal military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, more than 3,000 were killed or disappeared and over 40,000 were tortured and imprisoned. Although the Pinochet regime officially ended in 1990, much of the dictatorship’s legal system remains, including the Chilean constitution. Military police in Chile recently filed charges against Las Tesis, the interdisciplinary feminist collective whose protest performance, “Un Violador En Tu Camino/A Rapist in Your Path” became a viral sensation in 2019. Authorities claim that the collective is “inciting hatred and disobedience against authority.” One of the lines stated, “And the fault wasn’t mine, not where I was, not how I dressed. You are the rapist.” Last month, Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations Human Rights Council asked the Chilean state to drop criminal charges. “Las Tesis has been key in denouncing police violence and violence against women in Chile. The State has an obligation to protect human rights defenders. It should not prosecute them for exercising their freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly." The charges filed against Las Tesis are a flagrant attempt to intimidate and silence not only the collective, but all Chilean women, and validates their activism. Femicide in Chile and around the world is one of the leading causes of death for women, often at the hands of partners and men known to them. Internationally, at least 66,000 women and girls are murdered each year. ‘A Rapist in Your Path,’ is a protest performance bringing attention to the violence women face on a daily basis. It was first performed at a protest in the city of Valparaíso in Chile in November 2019 and became a viral video almost instantly. Since then, the protest has also been performed in Colombia, Mexico, France, India, and in the U.S. This collective display of international solidarity serves as another reminder of the violence and injustices women across the world face on a daily basis. The green scarves represent “La Marea Verde” (the Green Wave), a massive international women’s movement demanding sexual and reproductive health, and other rights. This movement began in Argentina, then spread to Chile and beyond, and its green scarf is now a symbol of women’s resistance throughout the world. Sources: Chile’s political crisis is another brutal legacy of long-dead dictator Pinochet Chile urged to drop criminal charges against Las Tesis over ‘Rapist in Your Path’ performance Chile Must Drop Criminal Charges Against Feminist Arts Group How the viral protest ‘A Rapist in Your Path’ became a defiant anthem for 2019 ¿Quiénes son Las Tesis, el colectivo feminista detrás de “El violador eres tú”? Who are Las Tesis, the feminist collective behind the "The Rapist in Your Path"?
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