Students and faculty alike gathered in front of the nursing building to give way to the Second Annual Siempre Vivas’ “Marcha Violeta.”
Today, our sangre verde turned purple in anticipation of “La Marcha Violeta” of Siempre Vivas, an organization at UPRM that provides support for gender violence victims, as well as awareness and education to prevent this terrible, ongoing issue. This is the second year the march has taken place, with the support of the university’s administration, as well as dozens of other student organizations that joined in support of the cause. The event began at 10:30 a.m., where a crowd of approximately 150 to 200 students gathered in front of the nursing building, holding banners with solidarity messages and singing slangs such as “Basta ya, basta ya, del abuso basta ya.”
The County police escorted the students and other participants through the university and into the Mayagüez town square, where locals stood outside chanting along in support of the march. The sheer amount of people that joined in, both on the streets and inside buildings was awe-inspiring, with some of them even repeating the chants. You could tell the participants were truly engaged with the cause. In solidarity with “Siempre Vivas” at UPRM, the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico and the Carlos Albizu Campos University joined in the march.
We managed to catch up with Christian Keough, who works with the project Fiesta Colegial by Servicios Médicos, who has been supporting the march since its beginnings. “When something is wrong, it is our duty to come forward and protest against it,” he said. Christian also suggested more advertising around campus to help spread awareness, not only about the march, but also to educate people about the cause.
The second annual “Marcha Violeta” culminated with a student demonstration on domestic violence, where both homosexual and heterosexual couples were depicted, showing how violence does not discriminate. Two victims came forward and shared their stories with the crowd, while wearing purple masks in order to protect their identities.
From the cheers of the crowd and the people that joined in throughout the march, it is clear that the “Marcha Violeta” was a stunning success. The issues tackled during the march are incredibly relevant, especially in the world we live in today. After all, there are more than 10 million cases of domestic violence per year in the U.S. alone, which translates to roughly 20 cases per minute. For this and many other reasons, events like “Marcha Violeta” are necessary for spreading awareness on the effects of domestic abuse and how to prevent or deal with this kind of abuse.