The Christian Science Monitor

Mexico's feminist protests grow louder. So does debate over tactics.

Women participate in a feminist march in Mexico City Sept. 19, 2019. Marches protesting violence against women have grown in recent years, and some of the activists' tactics, like vandalizing monuments, have been debated in Mexican society.

Scrawled on a formerly white wall inside the National Commission for Human Rights (CNDH) offices in Mexico City is the image of a woman in a purple dress leaning over the spitting flames of an orange and red fire. A number of conversation bubbles surround the painting, but only one is colored in to make the words pop:

“To build,” it reads, “you have to destroy.”

The phrase was painted by a group of feminists who gained international attention this fall when they took over the government building, demanding better protection for women and girls in Mexico. Groups of mothers, victims, and activists took over a handful of human rights offices across the country in September, building on years of mounting outrage. But attention to their cause is increasingly focused on whether the women are

Art criticsEnds, not means?

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