These demonstrations demanded a process of social change to eradicate— from the feminist point of view— the prevailing machismo and the patriarchal system that has been structural in that country, with a view to guiding the Chilean State towards the pillars of feminism.
These premises are based on denouncing the situation of inequality in which women find themselves, criticizing the widespread education and making gender issues visible, including repeated harassment and abuse throughout the country's history.
[4] According to scholar Sergio Martinez, the feminist agenda in Chile has focused on the unstable employment situation for women.
The matter was exacerbated when in April 2018 there were massive complaints of harassment and abuse against teachers and students in different universities in the country, which in the face of deficient processes and lacking response, motivated takeovers and stoppages that by June 2018 already added to 32 universities, producing a massive feminist student mobilization throughout the country.
[5] Along with these events, various television and theater actresses began in April 2018 to report cases of harassment and abuse by the renowned television director Herval Abreu, which generated in Chile a phenomenon similar to the Weinstein Effect in the United States, where various public figures came out with the banner of feminism to denounce these situations.
Other actresses, for their part, decided to make public the large wage gap between men and women that has not changed to date.
The matter was exacerbated when in April 2018 there were massive complaints of harassment and abuse against teachers and students in different universities in the country, which in the face of deficient processes and lacking response, motivated takeovers and stoppages that by June 2018 already added to 32 universities, producing a massive feminist student mobilisation throughout the country.
[5] A study measuring sexual violence victimization at Pontifica Universidad Catolica de Chile (PUC) was conducted in April 2018.
Machismo Kills!” Recently they have used “Ni Una Menos” to protest violence against women, including femicide and slow judicial responses.
Other posters mentioned the sexist education and cases of abuse that take place in the schooling system.
In an effort to reclaim control over their bodies, one protest of women marched with their faces covered and their torsos uncovered.
[4] The protests at the University of Chile led the institution to review its protocols for sexual harassment and violence.