of Mexicans unemployed as a result of the pandemic are women. So they got creative. In a handful of feminist-oriented Facebook groups, women posted their products, often handmade or carefully curated secondhand wares, and bought or traded with other women. They’d arrange to meet and hand off the goods in a metro station—an accessible location even for women who live in far corners of the city.
The following week, another group of women staged a metro station takeover at the Centro Médico station. “We were seven girls, with signs and megaphones and everything,” says Paola, who sells hand-embroidered clothing and beaded jewelry. The police surrounded them. “We started to yell that we were protesting, that it was a form of peaceful protest,” Paola recalls.
The Mercaditas also became a touchpoint for women seeking help. Passersby started to approach the vendors to ask for advice about aborting unwanted pregnancies or leaving abusive relationships. The metro itself is often a hotbed of sexual harassment, and the feminists intervened: “Sometimes girls would be groped in the metro, so we’d go with them to file a police report,” Castro says.
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