By Marco Dávila C.
HER NAME IS YADHIRA ROMERO MARTĺNEZ
Let”™s imagine how great would be the indignation in the mainstream media if the murdered young woman, instead of being a Mexican with US Citizenship, had been the daughter of the governor, the president, or some millionaire or celebrity?
She never returned home. Yadhira Romero Martinez lived in Morelos, Mexico with her parents. Recently she traveled to Minnesota, her place of birth. She was 19 years old. She was found dead in a house in Powderhorn Neighborhood (E Lake Street and 18th Avenue South).
It is a systemic problem. Of course, a murderer is a murderer and should pay for their crime. But it is also imperative to turn and see the circumstances and causes, and ask ourselves how we can prevent these horrible murders, instead of holding to the conservative idea that simply putting people in prison solves all problems.
Femicide is a pandemic that ends women”™s lives. “In 2011 alone, according to The Guardian, it happened to 1,600 women and girls from Alaska to New York, of all races, ages, and income levels. They were murdered in their beds and in their cars, at work and at yoga classes, with parents, husbands, ex-boyfriends, cousins, children, neighbors, and strangers.”
The community in South Minneapolis has taken it personally. For the big media companies, it may not be a very important story, but for neighbors in South Minneapolis, this case is as important as it is outrageous. As soon as the news broke, the community came together and mobilized itself. The fact that hundreds of people have come to the vigils and marches demonstrates that indeed, people do want to do something to stop these things from happening. “¡Ni una más!” (not one more) is a demand that resounds during the protests.
This cannot become normal for us. We cannot allow Yadhira Romero Martinez to become just another statistic. Let”™s take the terrible case of Yadhira as a call to get angry together. Let”™s follow the example of those who protest in the streets. And let”™s keep saying her name.
It”™s an epidemic that shows no mercy to women and girls, occurring in the United States and across the world.
And it seems that the murder of women is a subject so often minimized that many people don”™t even know the word “femicide” which refers to the murders of women, the vast majority of which are committed by men solely because they are women.
Justice for Yadhira Romero Martinez!
Chronology of Events
- Yadhira Romero Martinez left work at a Walmart in Bloomington at 4 P.M. on Thursday the 22nd of April.
- Friday, April 23rd, Yadhira did not make it to work. Her body was found the same day.
- Hours later, José Daniel Cuenca Zúñiga was arrested in Ohio for being the principal suspect in the murder.
- First court date for José Daniel Cuenca Zúñiga was May 10th.
- Family members have started two GoFundMe accounts to gather funds to transport her remains to Morelos, Mexico:
https://gofund.me/d403a869
https://gofund.me/ae23b119
Translated by Duncan Riley.Article originally published on lamatracanews.com
