On 3 June 2015, tens of thousands of people gathered in the capital, Buenos Aires, and in dozens of cities and towns demanding an end to violence against women. There were demonstrations in Chile and Uruguay in solidarity too.

Argentina was reporting a female murder rate of one every 31 hours. The killing of a 14-year-old pregnant girl by her boyfriend was seen as a tipping point.

Something had to be done. A collective of female journalists and writers campaigned under the banner ‘Ni Una Menos’ (not one less) and received support on social media from footballer Lionel Messi and Argentina’s president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

Changes to the law on abortion and the representation of women in governance followed. Agustina Paz Frontera who was part of the collective that started the movement tells Josephine McDermott it was the disappearance of her school friend in 2005 that spurred her on.

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(Photo: Agustina Paz Frontera. Credit: Ana Masiello)

Ni Una Menos women’s movement in Argentina

Witness History