Share

Share

Share on Facebook Share on Facebook Tweet Share on Twitter Share on WhatsApp Share on WhatsApp

SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina. In May 2015, the news of Chiara Páez's murder sparked the growing discontent of thousands of women and people of all ages who had been warning about the rise of gender-based violence. Ten years after the first Ni Una Menos (Not One Less), a demonstration that marked a turning point in Argentina, many of those demands, which had been slowly addressed, are under attack, both in terms of discourse and material resources, but the struggle continues.

It's clear: "We remain organized," agree those interviewed for this article. A massive mobilization of feminists, along with retirees, is expected next Wednesday, June 4th, at the National Congress, starting at 4 p.m., under the slogan: "10 years ago we took to the streets, and we didn't come back alone."

What the first Ni Una Menos asked for

That first demonstration in 2015 was marked by a series of demands for public policies from the State and the judiciary. These included a budget for the implementation of Law 26.485 on Comprehensive Protection ; the publication of official statistics on gender-based violence—including femicides—; guarantees for women's access to justice; the creation of emergency homes and shelters; mandatory training for security agents and judiciary personnel; and the effective implementation of Comprehensive Sexuality Education.

The initial starting point for Ni Una Menos (NUM) was a cultural event at the National Library. The slogan "Ni Una Menos" was coined there, going viral. "An assembly process was initiated, which allowed the movement to remain alive and capable of political expression," sociologist and NUM Luci Cavallero Presentes .

The massive appeal of the Ni Una Menos movement was mobilizing for different generations of women and people of color. As in the current context, it was also the result of the intersection and learning from other struggles.

 “It wouldn't have been the same Ni Una Menos if there hadn't been equal marriage five years earlier or the Gender Identity Law in 2012. Ni Una Menos wouldn't have existed as such, as an explosion, without the mobilization of the transvestites who were there that same day with signs reading 'Without transvestites there is no Ni Una Menos.' And Ni Una Menos reflects that,” lesbian transfeminist journalist Marta Dillon told this agency. 

Yesterday demands, today public policies

The power of the feminist demand in the first Ni Una Menos movement stemmed, on the one hand, from the positioning of a new social entity that allowed gender-based violence in all its forms to be "brought out of the closet." But it also materialized the demand in public policy.

One of the requests was for the State to record the number of women murdered in the context of gender-based violence. Five months later, on November 25, 2015, the Supreme Court of Justice presented the first Femicide Registry with the figures for women murdered in 2014. A year later, the National Gender Ombudsman's Observatory was created, which also keeps records that are published annually. Until then, only the Adriana Zambrano Observatory of the Casa del Encuentro organization had generated data.

This fundamental record provided a comprehensive understanding of the problem across the country. The first record revealed that in 2014, a woman was killed every 37 hours. In 2015, one woman was killed every 30 hours.

It wasn't until late 2016 that the government headed by Mauricio Macri presented the first Action Plan for the prevention, assistance, and eradication of violence against women. Although the plan was developed, the then Women's Institute, also created in the wake of the Ni Una Menos (Not One Less) campaign, lacked sufficient funding to implement it.

At the end of 2019, the first Ministry of Women, Gender, and Diversity was created. Along with it, the National Action Plan against Gender-Based Violence was launched. Its first phase ran from 2020 to 2022 and a second phase ran from 2022 to 2024. Innovative in its approach to coordinating ministries and developing a plan of commitments between provinces, it also encompassed key programs such as Acompañar. These programs were key in lifting thousands of women and people of all sexual diversity out of situations of violence.

What are the laws left by Ni Una Menos?

One of the laws enacted after Ni Una Menos was Law 27,542, known as the Brisa Law. This is an Economic Reparation Scheme for children and adolescents born to victims of femicide. It consists of a pension (equivalent to a minimum retirement pension) and comprehensive health coverage until the age of 21. It is currently underfunded and, according to family members, is not being enforced.

Months later, following the murder of Micaela García, a member of the Evita Movement and activist for Ni Una Menos (Not One Less) in Entre Ríos, Law 27.499 : the Micaela Law. Promoted by feminist organizations, it establishes mandatory training in gender perspective for all public employees at all levels and hierarchies in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the nation.

Another law that emerged as a result of Ni Una Menos' demands was Law 27636 on Access to Formal Employment for Transvestite, Transsexual, and Transgender People "Diana Sacayán-Lohana Berkins ." It establishes a minimum quota of 1% of national government positions and posts for this population to guarantee formal employment under equal conditions for the trans population.

What did Ni Una Menos mean?

The long-standing debates came to light with even greater force after the massive mobilization. Previously, figures from the cultural, entertainment, and sports worlds had joined the call under the slogan "Not One Less."

“The massive turnout changed all of our lives a little because these were things we talked about in smaller groups or at the meetings. All of these activisms converge in the massive turnout . That leap meant taking to the streets for the victims of femicide, with a very clear slogan like Not One Less. It also happened in the assemblies, in the assembly process, which was always very large,” says Dillon. And she recalls that the fight for Higui's freedom, two years later, was fueled by that massive turnout.

“ Ni Una Menos represented a shift in society's sensitivity, a modification in the thresholds of tolerance for violence, the emergence of thousands upon thousands of collectives , gender spaces in universities and schools. It opened a cycle of struggles that is absolutely nourished by genealogies and folds of previous struggles . Such as sexual education, legal, safe, and free abortion, the piquetero movement,” Cavallero acknowledged.

From Tucumán, trans artist Claudina Rukone recalls that she and other trans colleagues watched the first Ni Una Menos as spectators. “It was a very moving birth because it was Ni Una Menos who pushed us in 2017 to organize the first mass march for the murder of Ayelén Gómez. It was the first crime we experienced from a different perspective and with a different consciousness as a transvestite collective. By that time, we already had rights we didn't have before, like the Gender Identity Law. Ni Una Menos pushes us to organize, to learn. It was those feminists who shaped us in a way and accompanied us, embraced us, but above all, invited us to occupy the streets. To occupy those spaces that we previously felt didn't belong to us.”

Georgina Orellano, sex worker and general secretary of the Association of Prostitute Women of Argentina (Ammar) adds: “For us, the massive support that Ni Una Menos achieved 10 years ago gave us the opportunity to put the institutional violence that we sex workers in Argentina face on the social and feminist agenda . We were able to raise signs with the names of our colleagues murdered by the police, crimes that have largely gone unpunished, femicides that have not had the social upheaval that others have had.”

As part of Ni Una Menos, the 2nd Assembly of sex workers, migrants, and their families was held on Saturday, May 31, at Casa Roja.

The setbacks of the Milei government

Today, Javier Milei's government is attacking the agenda built by feminist movements this decade on all fronts. Far from eradicating gender violence, Milei's administration stigmatizes the gender agenda and targets it especially the most vulnerable and impoverished segment of the population: women and LGBT people.  

“I think all these changes in awareness haven't reversed, but we're at a crossroads. Not only because of the dismantling of public policies that were small victories for the movement. But also because we're in the midst of a deep economic crisis, which threatens women's opportunities and participation. This generates more poverty, increases the number of femicides, and leaves far fewer options for escaping a context of violence,” Cavallero explained.  

In a year and a half, the La Libertad Avanza government eliminated the Ministry of Women, Gender, and Diversity and other agencies responsible for public protection policies for these populations, such as the INADI (National Institute of Women and the National Institute of Statistics). Two weeks ago, the Minister of Justice, Mariano Cúneo Libarona, proudly announced the elimination of 13 gender programs, which were already lacking implementation . Among them was the program for Urgent Support and Immediate Comprehensive Assistance in Cases of Extreme Gender-Based Violence.

The question remains as to how she will address the social problem that gave rise to the first Ni Una Menos (Not One Less): gender-based violence. Argentina has recorded 93 femicides from January 1 to April 29, 2025, according to the latest survey by the MuMaLá – Women of the Latin American Homeland Observatory . This means one woman is murdered every 31 hours. According to the Ahora que sí nos ven (Now That They See Us) observatory, there have already been 108 femicides so far in 2025.

Furthermore, in its so-called "cultural battle," the Executive Branch specifically targeted diversity. It ignored the Transvestite and Transgender Labor Quota Law, firing more than 150 transvestite, trans, and non-binary workers. The President himself delivered a speech to the international community in which he misinformed about the LGBTIQ community, and especially about the transvestite and transgender community. Finally, he attacked the national law that is a symbol around the world: the Gender Identity Law .

The chainsaw was aimed at the most vulnerable sectors. Minimum pensions—which are mostly collected by women—suffered a 13.3% loss in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the last quarter of the previous administration, as a result of Decree 274/2024. Furthermore, retirees have seen their 70,000-peso bonus frozen since March 2024. Had it been updated, it should have been $158,620 next month. With the announced 2.8% increase, the minimum pension will be $304,723.93.

“Despite the fact that 10 years have passed since the birth of Ni Una Menos, and despite all the progress we've achieved in terms of rights, today we continue to suffer not only from the cruel murders of our transvestite colleagues, but also from the way in which investigations and trials are carried out, from the eternal demand for dignified treatment, from the importance of trials being labeled “transfemicide,” because it's not for nothing that a transvestite is killed. These are things we continue to demand,” Rukone adds.

“We remain organized”

In this context, retirees attempt to march in Congress every Wednesday to demand a decent retirement, but are harshly repressed by security forces. Added to this is the fact that on March 23rd, the moratorium, which allowed those without 30 years of contributions to access a minimum pension, ended. Who are the most affected? Again, women: nine out of ten women will not be able to retire at the minimum age of 60. 

"There is growing resistance; we remain organized. In this context of extreme difficulty, there are still important initiatives of resistance against something that is gigantic, with a very accelerated mechanism of destruction," said the sociologist and member of NUM.

“On the part of the State, there are still enormous debts and, above all, ever-increasing distances from accessing dialogue or listening to the importance of access to these rights. Our older transvestite companions are dying one by one, and there aren't that many of them, and the State still doesn't listen to us. So, for us, it's fundamental that the movement vibrates again in the streets today. Because all these cries for requests, for help, for demanding rights didn't fall asleep with the advance of all this cruelty that governs us today in Argentina,” adds artist and activist Claudia Rukone.

This time, Ni Una Menos, which historically takes place every June 3rd since 2015, will be moved to Wednesday, June 4th, to accompany the round of retirees. 

“The change we need: unifying the struggles”

Ana María Tapia is 72 years old, has white hair with violet highlights, and is a member of the Insurgentes Retirees collective. She was tear-gassed, beaten, and hit several times with rubber bullets during her Wednesday rounds in Congress. She spoke with Presentes after a grueling day: she supported the demand for an Emergency Disability Law in Congress, went to the Ministry of Health for the demands of residents of Garrahan Hospital, participated in the Mothers' Round in Plaza de Mayo, and attended a tribute by Norita Cortiñas, one year after her passing into immortality.

“The change of date seems perfect to me; we're starting to unify the struggles. I was at the 28M, which marked the 20th anniversary of the Campaign for Legal, Safe, and Free Abortion, and they're also going to join forces with retirees. Look how the struggle is bearing fruit. This is the change we need: unifying the struggles,” he shared with this agency. 

With retirees, always

Regarding the choice of this date, Cavallero shared: “We didn't want the tenth anniversary of Ni Una Menos to be a commemoration of something that already happened. We felt it was necessary to open a discussion about the tasks facing the movement today, which is why we called assemblies. There was a collective effort by many sectors to say that the task today of popular feminism and transfeminisms is to combat the atomization and fragmentation of struggles. And secondly, to contribute to strengthening and showing solidarity with the most repressed struggle, on which a third of the austerity measures are being imposed: that of retirees.”

What Ni Una Menos will be like on June 4th

The rally is scheduled for Wednesday, June 4th at 4:00 p.m. in Plaza de los Dos Congresos, with replicas across the country. There will be statements from retiree and transfeminist groups. Participants will also seek to participate in the Wednesday rounds. All actions will be determined that day based on how the day unfolds. "History is not seen: it is pushed," proclaims Ni Una Menos, ten years after the first historic mobilization.