«Este es una declaración que nada y nadie nos va a callar. Porque si toquen a una, se toquen a todas.
– This is a declaration that nothing and nobody will keep us silent. Because if they touch one of us, they touch all of us.»
(See below for English translation.)
«En las fiestas de Ambato fui a visitar a mi compañera Rosita, y conocer a la familia, su prima Vanessa, especialmente guapa, y conversona se aproximo a mi, me dio un plato de comida y enseguida nos pusimos a conversar.
Me dijo que le gustaba mi cabello, ella lo tenia incluso más churudo que el mío, largo, y su sonrisa siempre estuvo presente; durante la conversación me introdujo a Rafaela, su hija, ella decidió ser madre soltera, le pregunte porque, y me dijo: ya tengo 35 años, quería experimentar la maternidad, trabajaba en el negocio de venta de ropa, y la verdad que era muy buena vendedora con esa sonrisa gigante que tenia, en seguida caí.
La siguiente vez que fui a Ambato, ella me recibió de la misma manera pero no hablamos mucho, Rosita y yo íbamos de paso entonces solo compartimos un almuerzo. No sabia que esa era la última vez que yo vería a Vanessa.
“La Vane” paso a ser una cifra más de las víctimas de violencia machista, porque una noche a un tipo se le antojo matarla a golpes.
En el momento que me entere entendí que habría más casos, que “La Vane” pude ser yo, pudo ser mi madre, pudo ser cualquiera de nosotras, por que somos mujeres y tenemos derecho a vivir y decidir, esta es una declaración de que nada ni nadie nos va a callar, porque si tocan a una nos tocan a todas, por nuestras muertas ni un minuto de silencio toda una vida de lucha!»
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«In the festivals of Ambato [Ecuador], I went to visit my friend Rosita and meet the family. Rosita’s cousin, especially beautiful and chatty, came up to me. She gave me a plate of food and right away we started to chat.
She told me that she liked my hair. She had hers even curlier than mine and longer. Her smile was always there. During the conversation, she introduced me to Rafaela, her daughter. She decided to be a single mom. I asked her why and she told me that she was already 35 and she wanted to experience motherhood. She worked in a business selling clothing, and the truth is that she was very good at selling. With that gigantic smile that she had, I fell at once.
The next time when I went to Ambato, she welcomed me the same way [with warmth], but we didn’t talk a lot. Rosita and I were just passing by. So, we only shared a lunch together. I didn’t know that would be the last time that I would see Vanessa.
Vane turned into one more of the statistics, a victim of macho [machista] violence, because one night, a guy felt like beating her to death.
The moment that we found out, I realized that there were more cases—that Vane could be me, that it could be my mother, that it could be any of us. Because we are women and we have the right to live and to decide. This is a declaration that nothing and nobody will keep us silent. Because if they touch one of us, they touch all of us. For our friends who have passed, not one minute of silence—a whole life full of struggle. Justice for Vanessa!»
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Anaís Córdova Páez is a member of Colectiva Salud Mujeres, a FRIDA grantee partner in Ecuador, that provides free and timely information on how to safely terminate a pregnancy using medication (Misoprostol) to prevent unnecessary deaths of young women resulting from unsafe, clandestine abortions.
