Sorry for the Inconvenience, But They are Killing Us - A Case Study of the Ni Una Menos Protests’ Impact in Chile

This thesis draws upon social movement theory to explore the impact of the Ni Una Menos protest in Chile. In October 2016 thousands of people took the streets of the capital Santiago to protest the wave of recent femicides in Chile. The Ni Una Menos protest gained widespread attention and mobilized activists from all divisions in the women’s movement. The material of this case study was gathered through carrying out field work in Santiago. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with activists and stakeholders in the women’s movement in order to answer the research question; ”how do stakeholders and activists in the women’s movement in Chile perceive the impact of the Ni Una Menos protest?“ A combination of the social movement approaches political opportunity structures, recourse mobilization and framing processes is used as the theoretical framework of the thesis. The narratives from the interviews were analyzed through a thematic analysis approach and centered around the strategies of the movement and how these were successful in the Ni Una Menos case. The findings of the study suggest that Ni Una Menos protests have been impactful as it managed to mobilize collective action, putting gender-based violence on the agenda and raising awareness of women’s rights issues.