Cooking collective helps Mexican women escape abuse

Mexico City, Feb 20 (AFP):
On the outskirts of Mexico City, a group of women prepare tortillas in a community kitchen that has provided sanctuary from gender violence and the economic fallout of the pandemic. While one lights the stove, others grind corn, knead dough and wash vegetables.
The Latin American country, long beset by a culture of machismo, is in the grips of a femicide crisis with 10 women murdered every day. The pandemic, and the confinement it forced on them, has been a wake-up call for some women facing abuse at home. The members of the Mujeres de la Tierra (Women of the Land) cooperative now sell tortillas, tamales and other maize-based delicacies through social networks. “Unfortunately we have all suffered from violence of some kind…. psychological, physical, financial violence,” said Alma, 31, who like the others did not want to give her full name.