Women march against violence inflicted on bodies, communities.
- The San Juan Daily Star
- 13 hours ago
- 3 min read
By THE STAR STAFF
The International Working Women’s Day March, from the Plaza del Quinto Centenario to the Plaza de la Barandilla in Old San Juan, was held on Sunday by organizations of the March 8 Coalition (C8M), under the slogan “Our Bodies Are Not Territories of War.”
“In Puerto Rico, the burden of violence on the territory has historically fallen more heavily on women, as has happened with the women of Vieques and other impoverished, racialized and historically vulnerable communities,” said Annette Martínez Orabona, executive director of the ACLU of Puerto Rico, one of the organizations present at the march.
“We march because that burden, as well as the attempts to control our bodies and our lives, are still present and are intensifying from multiple fronts, with setbacks in reproductive rights, with the normalization of degrading policies, and with a remilitarization that threatens the health, safety and dignity of our people,” she emphasized.
The ACLU of Puerto Rico highlighted that it marched in solidarity with the Vieques Women’s Alliance – one of the two entities to which the 8M march was dedicated – recognizing its tireless work in defending the people of Vieques, the health and well-being of its people, environmental justice, and the demand for demilitarization.
“Vieques is a living reminder of what it means to turn a territory into a shooting range and training center, with the resulting effects being illness, trauma, displacement, and vulnerability,” Martínez Orabona said. “We honor the sustained struggle of the women of Vieques who have defended life and their right to remain in the face of structural violence, imposed bad decisions, and the constant mistreatment by a system that continues to fail them.”
The organization also highlighted its support for Women Against War, to whom the march was also dedicated, linking their struggle to the true defense of motherhood in the broadest sense, which is expressed as love and responsibility toward present and future generations, toward one’s neighbor, toward the land, toward human dignity and toward the lives of those who inhabit the Puerto Rican archipelago.
“Defending motherhood also means defending the conditions for living with dignity, including health, housing, education, peace, and justice,” Martínez Orabona said. “Women Against War are an example of what it means to care for each other, care for the country, and oppose any policy that turns our bodies and communities into spaces of war and exploitation.”
Similarly, the ACLU of Puerto Rico condemned the gender-based violence that continues to claim the lives of women in Puerto Rico and negatively impact community life at all levels. In 2025, 54 direct femicides were reported, murders where the death of the woman was the primary objective -- 20 of which were intimate partner femicides committed by current or former partners -- according to the annual report of the Gender Equity Observatory. So far in 2026, at least two intimate partner femicides have already been reported, according to news reports. The organization emphasized that ending violence and the culture of machismo requires addressing the gender violence issue as a priority, starting at the primary levels of education.
“We will not tire of denouncing the systemic conditions that promote sexist violence by politicizing gender issues, distorting data and facts, and obstructing measures and initiatives by prioritizing views that do not respond to the common interest and well-being,” Martínez Orabona said.