Outrage Builds on Social Media After CDMX Prosecutor Blames a Woman’s Lifestyle for Her Death Georgina Rannard - BBC News
go to original May 5, 2017

Women marched on the streets of Mexico City, on Friday, to protest the murder of Lesby Berlin Osorio, who was strangled with a telephone cord on Wednesday night. (Ruptly TV)

Thousands of women in Mexico have reacted with outrage on social media after the Office of the Public Prosecutor tweeted that the lifestyle of a young woman was to blame for her murder.

In the blacklash women have been tweeting about how they would be accused of being responsible for their murders if the spotlight was turned on the way they lived their lives rather than the prosecutor putting the focus on the actions of the killer.

Lesby Berlin Osorio, 22, was strangled on Wednesday night with a telephone cord on the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) campus in Mexico City.

Rates of violence against women and femicide (the killing of women because of their gender) in Mexico are high - between 2013 and 2014 seven women were killed every day in Mexico and 44.9% of women reported that they had experienced violence in the home.

In the hours after Ms Osorio's body was found, the Office of the Public Prosecutor - which will be investigating her murder - turned the attention on Ms Osorio herself, targeting in particular her lifestyle and romantic affairs.

Tweets sent from the Public Prosecutor's account pinned the blame on the young woman's alleged drinking, low attendance record at university and her decision to live with her boyfriend -implying that Ms Osorio had questionable morals.

"She was an alcoholic and a bad student," stated one.

"She had left home and was living with her boyfriend" the tweets continued, followed by "she had been taking drugs with friends".

Tweets from the Public Prosecutor's office blaming Ms Osorio's lifestyle for her murder (Twitter)

Fury from women and men across Mexico swiftly followed.

Tweeting almost 50,000 times with hashtag #SiMeMatan, people speculated how their personal lives would be used against them if they were murdered.

Read the rest at BBC News

Related: Mexico Femicides: Mexican Chauvinism and the Death of Lesby Berlín (Mexico Voices)

Related: Mexican Women Share 'If I'm Murdered' Hashtag to Protest 'Victim-Blaming' (Newsweek)

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