‘A rapist in your path’: Transnational feminist protest and why (and how) performance matters

Since its second public enactment in Chile on 25 November 2019, the performance of ‘Un violador en tu camino’ (A rapist in your path) conceived by the Chilean feminist collective Las Tesis began to make the rounds on social media. Un violador en tu camino is an open, collective performance involving lyrics sung in unison to a catchy beat, and a simple choreography performed synchronously by a group of women in a public space. The performance centres on rape – or ‘the rapist in your path’ – and the lyrics address the structural nature of gender violence in society more broadly. But what is it specifically that makes a performance action powerful in and beyond a protest context? This article examines the values and processes behind Un violador en tu camino in order to generate a deeper understanding of why the performance was appropriated by women across the world. It proposes that it is a powerful, prefigurative performance action because it mobilises participants and appeals to audiences as a sharp denunciation of violence, a demonstration of collective, prefigurative political action and a visually impressive composition.