ACLU of Puerto Rico Marches on 8M in Defense of Women’s Civil Rights

San Juan, P.R. — The ACLU of Puerto Rico took part this Sunday in the International Working Women’s Day March, convened by organizations of the March 8 Coalition (C8M), from Plaza del Quinto Centenario to Plaza de la Barandilla in Old San Juan, under the slogan, “Our bodies are not territories of war.”

“In Puerto Rico, the burden of violence inflicted on the land has historically fallen most heavily on women, as has been the case for the women of Vieques and other impoverished, racialized, and historically marginalized communities,” said Annette Martínez Orabona, executive director of the ACLU of Puerto Rico.

“We march because that burden, along with the attempts to control our bodies and our lives, is still present and is intensifying on multiple fronts, through rollbacks in reproductive rights, the normalization of degrading policies, and a remilitarization that threatens the health, safety, and dignity of our people,” Martínez Orabona emphasized.

The ACLU of Puerto Rico highlighted that it marched in solidarity with the Alianza de Mujeres Viequenses—one of the two groups to whom the 8M march was dedicated—recognizing its tireless work in defense of the people of Vieques, the health and well-being of its residents, environmental justice, and the demand for demilitarization.

“Vieques is a living memory of what it means to turn a territory into a bombing range and training ground, with effects that translate into illness, trauma, displacement, and harm. We honor the sustained struggle of Vieques women who have defended life and permanence in the face of structural violence, imposed bad decisions, and the constant mistreatment of a system that continues to fail them,” Martínez Orabona added.

The organization also underscored its support for Mujeres Contra la Guerra, to whom the march was also dedicated, linking their struggle to a true defense of motherhood in the broadest sense—expressed as love and responsibility toward present and future generations, toward one another, toward the land, toward human dignity, and toward the lives of those who inhabit the Puerto Rican archipelago.

“Defending motherhood also means defending the conditions necessary to live with dignity, including health, housing, education, peace, and justice. Mujeres Contra la Guerra are an example of what it means to care for one another, care for the country, and oppose any policy that turns our bodies and communities into spaces of war and exploitation,” the executive director said.

Likewise, the ACLU of Puerto Rico condemned the gender-based violence that continues to claim the lives of women in Puerto Rico and affect community life at every level. In 2025, 54 direct feminicides were reported—killings in which the woman’s death was the primary objective—20 of which were intimate partner feminicides, committed by current or former partners, according to the annual report of the Gender Equity Observatory. So far in 2026, at least two intimate partner feminicides have already been reported, according to news reports. The organization stressed that ending violence and sexist culture requires addressing this issue as a priority beginning at the primary education level.

“We will not tire of denouncing the systemic conditions that promote gender-based violence by politicizing gender issues, distorting data and facts, and obstructing measures and initiatives by placing ahead views that do not respond to the common good and public well-being,” Martínez Orabona said.