FOR was asked by the RED-Juvenil de Medellin, one of our partner organizations that works with non-violence against the militarization of their society, to accompany and observe this event.
The march was scheduled to start around 9am in Barrio Aranjuez. When we arrived there were various groups representing female organizations gathered on the street corners. We noticed the vibrant colors of all the womyn gathered: some dressed in costumes, others wearing bright shirts, fairies with slogans on their wings, and artist with various instruments. The diversity was noticeable and it was obvious that the march was going to be vibrant, its energetic crowd heard, and with many social issues identified and highlighted in a way that also celebrated the day dedicated to their gender.
At around 10am the crowd was already larger and the members of the RED-Juvenil got dispersed to join the various activities that would be taking place. Some grabbed their instruments and joined the music gro
ups, others joined the jugglers and dancers, and some were in charge of stamping the walls with stickers with information about Womyn’s rights.We noticed immediately that all the patrolling forces were womyn! We thought that it was important to notice that even in the police forces they were recognizing International Womyn’s Day. We formally introduced ourselves to the Commanding Chief of the Police unit present in the march and explained our role as human rights observers. We expressed our concern for the security of the people we accompany and the civilians population in general.
As routine, we were asked to walk close to the beginning
of the march. We always place ourselves on the periphery of the march as to not be confused and/or perceived as being participants. This confusion can result in the immediate deportation of internationals as it is against the law for foreigners to be active participants in anything that seems like a political event in Colombian. Also, more security is always needed in the front of marches due to the risk of having confrontations with the police and/or with interruptions or incidents that might create an obstacle for the march to continue its course. Nonetheless, participants throughout the march always fear being documented by civilian-dressed police and or undercover agents of Colombia’s intelligent agency known as the DAS. The danger here is that march participants become targets and pictures and videos taken of them are arbitrarily used to by the authorities to place judicial charges on them with accusations of being terrorist, rebels, guerilla collaborators. There is also a history of violence that is still practiced where subjects are identified, pictures are taken of them, and they later appear assassinated and or are classified as disappeared.All along the way more and more people joined the march and we could hear loud voices on megaphones stating:
“Ni del estado, Ni de la iglesia, mi cuerpo es de mi pertinencia”
(Not the state’s not the church’s, my body is my ownership)
“Mujeres marchamos contra la violencia!” (Womyn march against violence!).
Various activities were taking place in different places of the march that extended itself to at least five blocks long. There were kids dancing traditional Colombian music in the front, musicians in the middle, clowns and fairies throughout the crowd, student activists dressed in black chanting slogans, and all in all, anywhere you observe you saw movement, color, and heard voices of vari
ous strengths and tones.The march ended in the Parque de los Deseos in the east side of the city’s center at around 1:00pm. Luckily, the march ended without any major incidents that put at-risk the participants of the march.
FOR was glad to observe an event where non-violent activist participate collectively not only to speak out against those issues that still affect more than half of the world’s population but to also celebrate the energy and fundamental roles that incredible womyn continue to play throughout societies worldwide.
Please watch video put together by the ACA's Communication Area:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6dkee0QgZM
