SÃO PAULO, Brazil — During the jury selection process for Harvey Weinstein’s criminal trial this month, dozens of women gathered outside a Manhattan courthouse to perform a version of the dance/chant known as “Un violador en tu camino,” or “A Rapist in Your Path.” First in Spanish, then in English, they sang: “Patriarchy is our judge that imprisons us at birth/And our punishment is the violence you don’t see.”

This performance, which quickly went viral, was created last year by the feminist collective Lastesis in Valparaíso, Chile, and is based on the work of the Argentine-Brazilian anthropologist Rita Segato. The lyrics describe how the state upholds systematic violations of women’s rights, through institutions such as the judiciary and the police. It’s not just that members of those institutions simply disregard the complaints — looking the other way, doubting the victims — but that they are often the perpetrators themselves. “This oppressive state is a macho rapist,” the chant goes.

“Un violador en tu camino” was first performed in front of a police station by a small group during a protest in Valparaíso on Nov. 20. It was then repeated five days later in the capital, Santiago, by hundreds of activists on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. In early December, a group of thousands sang the anthem together outside Santiago’s National Stadium, which was a detention and torture center during Chile’s military dictatorship. (In one verse, the song mentions the “disappearance” of women.)