Arussi Unda

If we stop, the world stops. Those were the words Arussi Unda, a feminist from Veracruz, Mexico, used to call for a national women’s strike on March 9, 2020. In response to her call, millions of women in Mexico stayed home from work and refused to care for others, reminding the world of the important role women of all ages, races and economic statuses play in making democracy work.

Arussi insists women are the gatekeepers of our crumbling country, yet we are the ones being assassinated, raped, disappeared, bought and sold by traffickers. We care for the children, for the sick, for the elderly, and yet our governments have systematically denied us our right to rebel against an unjust system. We will put an end to this brutality that affects us all.

Arussi’s leadership as a spokesperson for feminist organization the Witches of the Sea (Las Brujas del Mar) and her clear-minded call for a united front of all feminist movements have rocked Mexico’s young generations. Hers has now become part of a bigger movement across the country calling for an immediate stop to inequality and violence against women. Arussi is unstoppable with her pro-diversity-feminism call for peace: just what Mexico needs right now.

Cacho is an author and investigative journalist in Mexico