In Chile, hundreds of women demand the resignation of the justice minister over reduced sentences for rapists

Protest outside the presidential palace

In Santiago, hundreds of women gathered outside the residence of right-wing President José Antonio Kast, demanding the resignation of Justice Minister Fernando Rabat. According to AFP, about 500 women took part in the demonstration, many of them wearing purple scarves, singing feminist songs and dancing. Participant Carmen Soto, a 42-year-old cook, held a placard demanding the minister's resignation and said that rapists 'must be sent back to prison' and isolated from society. 'I am very angry, because every one of us has at some point faced one form of violence or another,' AFP quotes her as saying.

The cause of the scandal and the authorities' response

The protest was triggered by a report published two weeks earlier by the local outlet Interferencia: the sentences of a group of people convicted of rape and other sexual crimes — at least 56 individuals — are to be reduced. After that, Kast's approval rating, according to the polling firm Cadem, fell to 26% — the lowest in eight months of his presidency. The president himself said that the state had 'let down' the victims.

The minister's position and the impeachment

Rabat explains the situation by saying that he was following the Supreme Court's directive and could not refuse to apply the sentence reductions. The opposition announced that it would seek an impeachment procedure against him in Congress — the first such motion against a minister appointed by Kast. AFP also recalls earlier criticism of Rabat: as a lawyer, he defended former dictator Augusto Pinochet in a case of alleged embezzlement of public funds; the case was closed after Pinochet's death. Protest participant Aurora González, a 47-year-old administrator, linked the demonstration to the government's broader economic policy: 'They are cutting healthcare funding, cutting everything — that is already serious, but this is the icing on the cake.'