The Mexican activist, renowned for her struggle to defend human rights and to combat abuses against children and women, speaks  about peaceful appropriation of the streets in a situation of extreme violence.

In January 2013, Shared Spaces interviewed Lydia Cacho when she was visiting the Centre of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB), where she gave a lecture on human rights as part of the «In Common» cycle. She spoke of the surprising examples of citizens’ appropriation of urban public space in the capital of a country immersed in a “false war” against drug trafficking, which has already led to 60,000 murders and almost 20,000 disappearances. In this situation of extreme violence, artists, activists and different groups from civil society give their support to actions which, through music, literature, dance or yoga, call upon people to take possession of streets and squares. As Cacho puts it, “It is when you believe that the streets of your city belong to you that you come out to defend them”.