Bicycles as a vehicle for protest in Guatemala Favorite 

Practitioner: 

Date: 

Feb 13 2021

Location: 

Guatemala City

Non-profit organizations and a multitude of Guatemalan girls protested together demanding justice and security from the government. Guatemala's insecurity and cases of girls' disappearances have increased over the years. The protest started outside the Government Ministery (Ministerio de Gobernación) early in the morning, where protestors gathered riding their bikes. Then they started their route towards the Plaza de la Constitución, considered to be an iconic site where the most important official ceremonies take place.
The girls wore headbands with slogans written in purple: " Quiero salir a jugar" I wanna go play outside / "Solo queremos vivir en paz" We only want to leave in peace / and "Exigimos una vida digna" We demand dignity. They also decorated their bikes with posters, teddy bears, and toys.
The protest was an immediate reaction to the last known case of 8-year-old Sharon Jasmine Figeroa Arriaza, whose body was found on February 8th, 2021, a day after she disappeared while riding her bike around the neighborhood where she lived.

External sources: 

https://www.soy502.com/articulo/ninas-protestan-contra-violencia-guatemala-63338
https://www.prensalibre.com/guatemala/comunitario/manifestantes-exigen-justicia-…
https://www.democracynow.org/2021/2/16/headlines/guatemalan_women_and_girls_prot…
Posted by Fernanda Soria on Mar 6 2021

Staff rating: 

0

Effectiveness

How does this project help?

Activates (people)Energizes and organizes people into action. Can include emotion work
Amplifies (issue or campaign)Brings public and political attention to an issue or campaign.  Can include prefigurative action, making the invisible visible.

Timeframe For change

This project seems to be part of a campaign with a clear short-term goal. Short-term goals tend to be things like: create or repeal a law; get a President impeached; make the city administration repair a sidewalk. A campaign with a short-term goal needs a clear theory of change, complete with targets that can be cajoled or pressured into effecting the goal.
They demand a response from the government about the findings and case investigation development in regards to the killing of Sharon Figueroa
This project seems to be part of a campaign with a clear long-term goal. Long-term goals tend to be things like: end racism; end homophobia; make the sun stand still in the sky. A campaign with a long-term goal also needs to have some kind of theory of change.
end the gender violence and the systematic disappearances and killings of women and girls in Guatemala

Notes

including children as the main actors in a protest is pretty powerful. It brought national and international media attention, strengthening the gender activist network across Latin America. Different feminist organizations across the Latin American atmosphere are sharing this story, pictures and videos from the protest, further pressuring the Guatemalan government to give answers.