“Un violador en tu camino” (“A rapist in your way”) 1 Favorite 

Last month, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, dozens of women gathered outside the supreme court building in Santiago, Chile—a country now beset by popular uprisings against inequality—for a feminist flash mob.

Organized by a local feminist collective, the performance was titled “Un violador en tu camino” (“A rapist in your way”). The song and accompanying dance takes on the patriarchy as the cause both of violence against women and the victim shaming that often comes after. “Y la culpa no era mía, ni dónde estaba, ni cómo vestía,” they sang (“and the fault wasn’t mine, not where I was, not how I dressed”).

The choice of location wasn’t accidental: Only about 8% of all rapes in Chile end up with a conviction. The chant deliberately addressed the failure of the justice system to protect women. To double down on this, the lyrics of the chant quote a stanza in a Chilean police anthem, which says, “Sleep calmly, innocent girl/
Without worrying about the bandit/For over your smiling, sweet dreams/watches your loving cop.”

The group, LASTESIS, organized a previous intervención, as they call the performances, in Valparaíso on Nov. 21. That event was inspired by the work of renowned Latin American feminist and professor Rita Laura Segato. Her thinking, the group said, moved them to create a flash mob that would show rape not just as a crime against an individual woman, but the expression of a larger social issue.

The protest has since spread outside of Chile. In Mexico City, a square full of women of all ages, some of them blindfolded, joined a similar flash mob on Nov. 29.

Public performances of the song have also been held in other cities, including Bogotá, Madrid, Barcelona, London, and Paris.

If you want to organize the next flash mob, below are the song’s lyrics, with dance steps annotated. There is some room for creativity, too: Women in Mexico, for instance, used the left arm instead of right; in Paris, the crowd pumped their fist in the air. So long as the group is coordinated, it’s bound to be a success. The English translation of the lyrics is at the bottom.

Un violador en tu camino
A rapist in your way (English translation)
[Keep arms loose at your side, march in place to the beat for the first eight verses]
El patriarcado es un juez,
Que nos juzga por nacer
Y nuestro castigo
Es la violencia que no ves.

El patriarcado es un juez,
Que nos juzga por nacer
Y nuestro castigo
Es la violencia que ya ves.

Es feminicidio
[Place hands behind the head, squat up and down]
Impunidad para el asesino
[Repeat movement above]
Es la desaparición
[Repeat movement above]
Es la violación
[Repeat movement above]

[Run in place, but without lifting feet from the ground; move forearms up and down in sync with the feet]
Y la culpa no era mía, ni dónde estaba, ni cómo vestía
Y la culpa no era mía, ni dónde estaba, ni cómo vestía
Y la culpa no era mía, ni dónde estaba, ni cómo vestía
Y la culpa no era mía, ni dónde estaba , ni cómo vestía

El violador eras tú
[Extend right arm straight out in front of you, pointing]
El violador eres tú
[Repeat movement above]

Son los pacos
[Point left]
Los jueces
[Point right]
El estado
[Raise arms, pointing in circle around the head]
El presidente
[Cross forearms above the head]

[Move forearms up and down rhythmically, fist closed]
El estado opresor es un macho violador
El estado opresor es un macho violador

El violador eras tú
[Extend left arm straight out in front of you, pointing]
El violador eres tú
[Repeat movement above]

[Cup hands around mouth to amplify shouting]
Duerme tranquila niña inocente,
sin preocuparte del bandolero,
que por tus sueños dulce
y sonriente vela tu amante carabinero.

El violador eres tú
[Extend right arm straight our in front of you, pointing]
El violador eres tú
[repeat movement above]
El violador eres tú
[repeat movement above]
El violador eres tú
[repeat movement above]

The patriarchy is a judge
that judges us for being born
and our punishment
is the violence you don’t see.

The patriarchy is a judge
that judges us for being born
and our punishment
is the violence that have seen.

It’s femicide.
Impunity for the killer.
It’s disappearance.
It’s rape.

And the fault wasn’t mine, not where I was, not how I dressed
And the fault wasn’t mine, not where I was, not how I dressed
And the fault wasn’t mine, not where I was, not how I dressed
And the fault wasn’t mine, not where I was, not how I dressed

The rapist is you.
The rapist is you.

It’s the cops,
The judges,
The state,
The president.

The oppressive state is a rapist.
The oppressive state is a rapist.

The rapist is you
The rapist is you

“Sleep calmly, innocent girl
Without worrying about the bandit,
Over your dreams smiling and sweet,
watches your loving cop.”

The rapist is you
The rapist is you
The rapist is you
The rapist is you

By Annalisa Merelli
December 2, 2019
Quartz