Breathe
By Marina Aurelia Macias
For the student community, it is no longer enough for a safe space to be one that is free of violence; we are looking for one that is also conducive to harmony, peace and nurturing for the mind and body.
During my time as leader of the GirlUp Tec de Monterrey club, many times teachers, coordinators and graduates have shown me their astonishment at the spaces we have been able to occupy on campus.
And they proudly share with me the efforts they had to make as students during their time to open the way and remove the invisibility blanket that had been placed on everything that spoke of what we now openly call the struggle of women for a campus, a society and a world without male violence.
For this reason, I would like to begin by acknowledging that the roar heard today in the corridors of every institution for a safe life in the voice of the students is the echo of those who preceded us.
In the struggle to have a safe space, we often find that the definition of safe space can be elusive and I think it is unfair to try to give a universal definition of safe space without knowing the experiences of all of us who inhabit universities. For me, the most important goal to achieve is to recognize and eliminate the violence, injustices and neglect that we go through as a student community.
Now, within this constellation of multiple experiences and feelings, there is an equal number of ways in which the bodies and minds of those of us who are part of the universities are threatened, violated and violated. Therefore, for the student community it is no longer enough for a safe space to be one that is free of violence, but we seek one that is also conducive to harmony, peace and is nourishing for the mind and body.
It is with this in mind that as leaders of our respective communities we must ensure that the authorities of each institution respond to the needs of those of us who inhabit their classrooms and the diverse ways in which we live this brief and unrepeatable period of being students.
Human flourishing would remain nothing more than an illusion if we do not take into account that, in order for young people to truly develop our full potential, we need the prevention of gender-based violence, adequate justice, accompaniment to heal from this wound and, in turn, restoration of the damage.
As a student community, our responsibility is to always be vigilant and demand that the goals that all students need are achieved. Let us take advantage of the strength that arises from our nonconformity to imagine new possible futures in which we devise ways to commit ourselves to the welfare and safety of our environment and above all, taking responsibility for our part in that change.
The safe spaces that already exist are the result of generations of building a network of support woven by the initiative and personal conviction of women students, faculty and administrators who have reached out and created solid, supportive and compassionate havens among their peers to support them in ways that no one else has done for a long time.
The territory conquered by university women in their institutions is fertile ground for sowing lasting changes, bringing us closer to what our colleagues and teachers need to generate a renewed capacity for the collective care of all the people who make up our community.
This justified rage that commits us students to denounce indifference and explore ways to coexist in an equitable manner is the irreplaceable bond that unites us to give platform to the concerns of our communities and collaborate to continue creating harmonious spaces of development and fulfillment allowing true human flourishing from an intersectional look at reality.
* Marina Aurelia Macias Pineda is president of the GirlUp club; student of the Double Degree in Economics and Public Transformation and Government of the Tecnológico de Monterrey, member of the international network Valparaíso against stalking.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of Opinion 51.
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