Together with women from all over the world, feminist fighters of all genders in Geneva, NY rose up on International Women’s Day by performing the Chilean anti-rape protest anthem, “Un Violador en Tu Camino – A Rapist in Your Path.” Organized by the Geneva Women’s Assembly, the International Women’s Day event began with a banner drop and march down the main street of this small city in central New York. The march was led by indigenous women, immigrant women, and women of color. Emboldened by their collective strength, the enthusiastic marchers performed “Un Violador en tu Camino” at the intersection of two major streets, blocking traffic and inspiring onlookers.
“Un Violador en tu Camino,” by feminist art collective LasTesis, was first performed in Valparaíso, Chile on November 2019. The chorus “The rapist is you/ It’s the cops/ The judges/ The System/The President” resonates across the globe. In Geneva, the chant has particular meaning, given that a Geneva police officer is currently facing charges for assaulting a woman in his custody. It was especially powerful, therefore, that 25 demonstrators held a busy, downtown intersection for nearly 5 minutes while they performed the Chillean feminist anthem in English and Spanish. The message couldn’t have been clearer: We are disrupting the patriarchal status quo, taking the power that is ours, and forcing onlookers to confront the violence women and sexual minorities face everyday.
The theme for this year’s March 8th action was “Feminists Fight Back: Solidarity is our Weapon,” which sought to demonstrate the unity of women’s struggles, especially in the face of state violence. Speakers, multilingual chants, and a march across the city culminated with people sharing thier stories and experiences of sexual assault and violence against women as a way to build solidarity and community power against the opressive forces of the state and the violence women, across differences, face everyday.
Maleeha Martinez spoke about why she fights, “I chose to demonstrate yesterday because I wanted to give a voice to all the women who can no longer speak out about these issues. To give a voice to all the sisters we have lost in the indigenous community and all the women who are constantly getting murdered in Latin America.” Briana Horton said she chose to demonstrate because “everyone will benefit from the eradication of the oppression of all women–from women of lower socioeconomic status, women of color, women within the LGBTQ community, women with disabilities, and indigenous women. These struggles are intertwined. They are one common fight for the betterment of the future. When one of us is not free, none of us can be.”
Alexis Noelani Martinez stated, “I chose to demonstrate my right to protest against gender oppression with a focus on femicide in Latin America and missing and murdered indigenous women in the US. The red handprint on my face is symbolic of our stolen sisters. I was so honored to help lead this women’s march when in past marches I have been displaced in the back of these marches where white women’s issues were always placed before mine.” Penny Hankins fiercely exclaimed, “I am ready to be more public about the rape I experienced and I am finally ready to stop playing by the patriarchy’s rules in order to diminish the crime and protect my rapist. Why do I fight? Because I refuse to let the patriarchy and the rapists win!”
The Geneva Women’s Assembly has focused this year on mutual aid and community self-defense. In addition to the March 8th rally and demonstration the group has organized three free clothing pop-ups, helped to organize of a Finger Lakes Rapid Response Network to combat the brutalities of ICE, supported women facing eviction, police brutality, and intimate partner violence, and fought for the creation of more community gardens in neighborhoods ravaged by toxic pollution. Laura Salamendra, member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Geneva’s 5th Ward City Councilor, noted in her speech that women in Geneva and around the world have always been on the front lines of the struggle for justice. “This International Women’s Day, we are solidifying what we already know: we are a fighting feminist army that has each others’ backs! We know what it feels like to be afraid of seeing our abusers at the grocery store, in our own homes, or wearing a police uniform. And I am here to say, not one of us has to face that reality alone.”