We won’t stop. That is what the images from last Wednesday’s massive marches in Buenos Aires and across Argentina against gender violence are saying.

What took place shows that something important started last year with the first massive demonstrations on behalf of the right of women to lead lives without the fear of violence. The movement continues to grow stronger every day.

This time, as was the case for the two previous marches of June last year and again in June this year, women and men of all ages took to the streets of Argentina. Sometimes they did so despite cold, driving rain, just to make it clear that in a society that knows how to protest in favour of other rights – the rights of workers, human rights – the time has come also to face up to machismo in everyday life.

Argentina needs effective public policies against gender violence. But it also needs every individual to take responsibility for their private behaviour on a daily basis too. “Femicide”, as the murder of women as a result of domestic violence and other categories of hate crimes against women has been defined by law in our country, is a huge and urgent problem. In the 18 days leading up to Wednesday’s march there were 19 such murders of women in Argentina. These killings are the end result of small, daily acts of machismo.

Despite the marches, Argentina is far from being a feminist country. It never was before and it’s not one now. It was only in 1991 that Argentinian female politicians obtained, not without hard work, a law guaranteeing 30% of elective posts for women. The struggle continues for total equality. Then and now, male politicians have attempted to block this initiative.

Abortion is legal in just a few special cases, such as a health risk for the mother and rape. Women also continue to be underpaid, earning 30% less than men for the same job. And even though female students today are the majority at Argentina’s universities and increasingly active as academic researchers, decision-making and directive posts are still reserved for men.

‘Sometimes big, long-lasting movements start with a spark.’ Photograph: Eitan Abramovich/AFP/Getty Images

So the broad support for the #NiUnaMenos “not one less” movement is not something anybody could easily have imagined would happen in Argentina. Nevertheless, it looks like only hard, sad stories wake us up to the grim reality of gender violence.

Last year, between May and June, #NiUnaMenos sprang to life after a teenager from a small town was found dead and buried in her boyfriend’s garden. This June, the first anniversary of last year’s massive street demonstrations saw a second such nationwide demonstration being held. But now, in this unusually cold and rainy October for Argentina, a new brutal femicide became headline news and the reaction was colossal. The protest is still not enough, but it’s worthwhile. It’s not a solution, but it’s a statement and an assuming of collective responsibilities in the violence against women.

Women, men, teenagers and kids (yes, there were families out in the rain) held handmade posters with passionate slogans and drawings. Some of them told stories of violence against women, others just showed solidarity and asked for people to open their eyes to what is happening.

Sometimes big, long-lasting movements start with a spark. I’d like to think that #NiUnaMenos is the spark for a new Argentina that is better for women.