Concept in Definition ABC

An escrache is a form of popular demonstration in which the protesters who participate in it are before the home address of someone, usually a political representative, in order to express rejection of their action politics.

These types of actions are normally related to cases of corruption and are a way of expressing public discomfort at the degradation of public life.

Escrache staging

The staging of the escrache presents the following characteristics:

- A group of individuals stands next to the private home of a political leader.

- It is common for shouts of protest to be made accompanied by banners with critical or vindictive slogans in allusion to the issue being denounced.

- Escrache participants usually wear some symbol as a distinctive (for example, t-shirts of a certain color to be identified by the media communication).

The word escrache began to be used in Argentina in the 1990s and alluded to the impunity of those responsible for the period of the Argentine dictatorship, since at that time many of them were pardoned

In other countries the same term is also used. In the case of Spain, escrache became popular in 2013 when some civic platforms took to the streets to protest against the evictions of homes that were taking place as a result of the economic crisis that affected the country, especially the most disadvantaged.

Arguments in favor

In the first place, escrache is a legitimate way of exercising freedom of expression, a right recognized in democratic systems.

Escrache is a form of citizen activism against unjust political decisions and against the impunity of the powerful.

The escrache is a strategy complaint that makes sense when the institutions do not function properly and when the people consider that their interests are being trampled on.

Counterarguments

Escrache is a form of harassment and is a perverse way of understanding freedom of expression. Criticism and citizen protest are acceptable but it is not acceptable to exceed the limits of anyone's private life.

Understanding that escrache is legitimate is a way to justify popular justice and lynching moral, two behaviors contrary to the law.

Justifying escrache implies assuming that laws and regulations procedures protests are not enough, an idea that endangers the model of coexistence citizen.

Photos: iStock - william87 / FernandoPodolski

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