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Mar 9, 2023 - World

In photos: International Women's Day protests in Latin America

Marina E. Franco (Noticias Telemundo for Axios)

A woman with a hand painted in purple in the face chants during a demonstration commemorate International Women's Day on March 8 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Photo: Tomás Cuesta/Getty Images

Thousands of women across Latin America and the Caribbean marked International Women's Day on Wednesday with protests, seeking to bring attention to issues such as gender-based violence and pay disparities.

The big picture: Latin America and the Caribbean have some of the worst rates of gender-based violence in the world, according to UN data.

Demonstrators march in Bogotá, Colombia, march on Wednesday. Photo: Nathalia Angarita/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Last year, at least 4,473 women in Latin America were killed because of their gender — an average of 12 per day.

Women dressed in purple march on International Women's Day in Mexico City
Thousands of women demonstrate in Mexico City. Mexico has one of the highest rates of gender-based violence. Photo: Amaranta Marentes Orozco/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Women in several of these countries in 2020 started a new annual tradition, known as "Un día sin nosotras," (a day without us) which is held every March 9. Women on this day abstain from working or doing unpaid labor.

Two women march side by side wearing red and holding a sign in Portuguese that says "be a woman without fear"
Women in São Paulo hold a sign saying "here's to being a woman without living in fear." Photo: Cris Faga/NurPhoto via Getty Images
A woman takes part in a demonstration to mark the International Women's Day in São Paulo, Brazil. Photo: Miguel Schincariol/AFP via Getty Images
Women in green march in San Salvador during International Women's Day, holding cardboard signs protesting violence against women
Demonstrators march in support of abortion and other women's rights in San Salvador, El Salvador, on Wednesday. Photo: Marvin Recinos/AFP via Getty Images
A woman swirls wearing a monarch butterfly cape while others march behind her during an International Women's Day protest in Guatemala City
A woman in in Guatemala City, Guatemala, swirls her butterfly wings during a women's demonstration on Wednesday. Photo: Fabricio Alonzo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Demonstrators raise their arms in the air and yell during a protest for International Women's Day in Bogota, Colombia
An International Women's Day protest in Bogotá, Colombia, on Wednesday. Photo: Vannessa Jimenez/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Three women smile in Haiti as they prepare to participate in International Women's Day
Members of the Haitian National Police prepare to celebrate International Women's Day in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday. Photo: Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images
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