Buenos Aires, Argentina – “We are the voice of those who no longer have one,” read the slogan plastered on signs across downtown Buenos Aires last Thursday, June 3.

Thousands gathered outside the National Congress to mark the 11th anniversary of Ni Una Menos, a movement that emerged after the 2015 murder of 14-year-old Chiara Páez and went on to reshape Argentina’s debate over gender violence while inspiring similar mobilizations across Latin America.

Purple scarves, green handkerchiefs and photographs of victims filled the streets on Wednesday as demonstrators demanded justice for women killed in acts of gender violence. This year’s march was largely shaped by the femicide of Agostina Vega, a 14-year-old girl in Córdoba, whose case dominated national headlines in the days leading up to the demonstration and became a symbol of public outrage.

The case sparked criticism of Argentina’s justice system and prompted calls for the resignation of judicial and government officials over alleged failures to protect the teenager.

Demonstrators also highlighted the recent murders of Dulce Candia, 17, in the northern province of Misiones; and Noelia Romero, 30, in a Buenos Aires suburb, whose names echoed throughout the protest.

“This case encapsulates the institutional violence that the State subjects us to,” organizers from Ni Una Menos said in a statement read during the main rally. 

The statement was read by actress and gender rights activist Thelma Fardin, whose case became a landmark moment in Argentina’s #MeToo movement. “Don’t talk about me, stop killing us,” she said to the crowd that included women of all ages, political leaders and relatives of femicide victims. Earlier this year, Brazil’s Supreme Court upheld the conviction of Argentine actor Juan Darthés for sexually abusing Fardin during a tour in Nicaragua in 2009, bringing to a close one of the country’s most closely followed gender violence cases.

As demonstrators advanced through the city center, banners carried messages such as “No woman should have to learn how to survive living in the place she belongs,” “May freedom not be a promise but a reality,” and “Feminist rebellion against fascism.”

Debate over cuts to gender programs

Alongside demands for justice, many protesters also linked gender violence to Argentina’s economic situation. One of the most visible slogans read “We want to be alive, free… and debt-free” (“Vivas, libres y desendeudadas nos queremos”), a variation of the movement’s traditional slogan “Vivas y libres nos queremos” (“We want to be alive and free”). Organizers said the addition reflected concerns about the impact of President Javier Milei’s austerity policies on women and vulnerable communities.

The mobilization comes as feminist organizations and Milei’s government offer sharply different assessments of the situation facing women in Argentina.

According to Ahora Que Sí Nos Ven, an Argentine feminist observatory that monitors femicides and gender-based violence, a woman is killed every 31 hours in the country. The organization recorded 99 victims of gender-related killings between January and May this year and has documented more than 3,200 such cases since the first Ni Una Menos march in 2015.

For organizers, the anniversary has become not only a call against femicides but also a protest against what they describe as the dismantling of gender policies under Milei’s administration.

Activists pointed to reductions in funding for gender-based violence programs. According to an analysis by Argentine fact-checking organization Chequeado, inflation-adjusted spending on eight gender-related programs fell by nearly 95% between 2023 and 2025. Among the most affected were a nationwide hotline for victims of gender violence and a program which provides financial assistance to women at risk. Both saw their budgets fall by nearly 100% in real terms during the period.

According to Chequeado, six of the eight programs analyzed were either eliminated or absorbed into broader initiatives under the Human Capital and Justice ministries.

But the Milei administration has defended the restructuring, arguing that several programs were inefficient or redundant.

Government officials have also challenged the activists’ interpretation of the data. Senator Patricia Bullrich, from Milei’s La Libertad Avanza, highlighted what she described as a decline in femicides since Milei took office.

“I know that behind every statistic there are families, and for those families that number means everything,” Bullrich wrote on social media during the mobilization. “But the data reflects a reality: since Javier Milei took office, we have reduced femicides by 25%, strengthened the prison system and created a DNA registry for convicted rapists.”

Bullrich added that “the feminism I defend is the one that protects women,” reflecting the administration’s argument that public security measures, rather than gender-focused institutions, have driven improvements in the statistics.

According to a report released by Argentina’s Supreme Court, 200 direct victims of femicide were recorded in 2025, down 12.3% from the previous year and the lowest annual figure since 2017. The judiciary’s National Femicide Registry estimated that one woman was killed every 44 hours last year.

As the demonstration came to an end, participants raised photographs of victims toward Congress while organizers read aloud the names of women killed over the past year. Eleven years after the first Ni Una Menos march, demonstrators argued that the central demand remains unchanged: ensuring that no woman becomes the next name added to the list.

Featured image description: Protesters marked the anniversary of Ni Una Menos.

Featured image credit: @FundHuesped via X