The Civil Guard arrested a 17-year-old boy in Orihuela as the alleged perpetrator of the murder of a 15-year-old girl, his ex-partner. Another man, 42 years old, was arrested in the south of Tenerife for trying to kill his partner, a 33-year-old woman, in front of her one-year-old daughter. The Government Delegation against Gender Violence confirmed this Sunday’s case in Estepa as a sexist crime: a man killed his wife. This is how this November 25 began, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, an emblematic date on which feminist organizations call for marches and rallies. Thousands of people have taken to the streets in dozens of cities and towns to cry out against machismo and its most extreme version, gender violence.
‘Fight sexism’ was the motto chosen by the Madrid Feminist Forum, the organization that has traditionally called for the 25N march in the capital. Its spokesperson, Carmen Flores, mentioned the structural nature of both violence and solutions: “It comes from the patriarchal system and it is what we have to fight, that is why our motto.” In the capital, as in the past two years, two different marches took place. “We are not all here, the murdered are missing” was one of the slogans heard at the start of the demonstration called by the 8M Commission in Madrid. Ana Useros, one of its spokespersons, assured that this year’s motto – ‘Together fear changes sides’ – wanted to convey “that to end sexual, sexist and sexist violence” the solution has to be “structural”.
Also in Valencia there were two separate calls this 25N, although one took to the streets on Sunday. In the one that toured the city this Monday, thousands of women cried out against the “impunity” and “denialism” of the “extreme right.” The march was marked by “pain and sadness” over the case of the 15-year-old girl murdered by her ex-boyfriend in Orihuela, Alicante. “It is not an isolated case, it is called patriarchy”, “they are not outbursts, they are murders” or “let shame change sides” were some of the slogans chanted.
In most cities, such as Barcelona, Bilbao, Seville, Toledo, Oviedo or Cádiz, the calls were unitary. In the Toledo march was Consuelo, 87 years old, crutch in hand. He arrived from the town of Alameda de la Sagra because “it’s fine now” and he was “at his best” to blow his whistle: “We have to make a fuss to end injustices.” Hundreds of people attended the protest call of the Toledo 8M Platform, despite the fact that this year the PP and Vox City Council decided not to hold the historic demonstration of the local Women’s Council.
Against shame
The case of Gisèle Pelicot, the woman raped by her husband and by dozens of men for years, was very present in the streets this 25N. In Barcelona, thousands of people came together at dusk to denounce that sexist violence “is not isolated events,” but rather structural violence that is part of an “oppressive” system. The rally had as its motto ‘Fear and shame have to change sides’.
Dolores Pulido, spokesperson for the Feminist November Collective, explained to the ACN agency that as a result of the Pelicot case, which is entering its final stretch, they thought that the action had to pivot on two axes. The first of them was the need to create a new social paradigm in which aggressors feel that what they do is “unacceptable.” The other axis demands “responsibility” from the administrations.
“Shame is going to change sides” could also be read on the banner that led the demonstration that toured the center of Bilbao and behind which many women and some men marched. Like Elene, who denounced that “digital violence” is increasingly present on social networks among her 17-year-old friends. “If we write about feminism on social networks we receive a lot of hate, which is why some prefer not to publish things,” she said. Or Sara, who held up a banner that read “I fight because when it happened to me I felt guilty.” “Society has made us experience sexist violence with guilt and shame and it is exactly what we have to change. “They are the ones who have to feel ashamed,” claimed the 22-year-old girl.
The motto with which the coordinator of feminist organizations in Zaragoza called for her rally also made reference to the words of Pelicot, who asked that shame change sides: “Against shame, not an ounce of patience.” Also in Asturias, the Asturies 8M platform asked that shame change sides. They will point the finger, they assured, against the patriarchal pact of silence until silence is no longer an option and the reporting process is the real choice, without re-victimization or unfair questioning.
Thousands of people took to the streets in Pamplona to cry out against sexist violence. “If you are not the solution, you are the problem,” was the motto chosen this year by the convening platforms as a way of directly addressing men. But there was also a reference to the Pelicot case: “The ones who have to feel ashamed are the aggressors, we are already fed up.”
‘Sexist justice, feminist response’
This year’s 25N comes amid another wave of testimonies of sexual harassment and violence. The Errejón case has led to another rise in the word: the testimonies of several women about the behavior exercised by the former deputy and his resignation have stirred the dissemination of hundreds of stories of women who report violence of varying intensity in their families, with their partners, in their workplaces or on the street.
In Murcia, the recent sentences on the minor prostitution network for which none of the so-called ‘businessmen of shame’ have gone to jail have united the main movements and assemblies of the region in a unified call. “Sexist justice, feminist response!” and “They were minors, rapist businessmen!” were some of the proclamations heard during the demonstration in the capital of Segura.
“Rebellion, disobedience against their violence” or “Neither dead nor slaves, liberated women” were some of the slogans of the demonstration held in Santiago de Compostela, which called to combat all forms of sexist violence. The Mulleres World March recalled that the “most terrible” result is feminicide, but that gender violence “takes many forms that weave a web of oppression over women, especially those of the working class.” They also warned of a “reaction from the right and the most reactionary sectors” to deny sexist violence in the face of the advance of the feminist movement and called for fighting against the disappearance of public policies and the normalization of sexist attitudes and aggression.
León also took to the streets against gender violence. “They continue to say that this is an ideological invention and this means that administrations have to focus even more on awareness, co-education, emotional sexual education and prevention. The denialist message is a great irresponsibility, because whoever denies sexist violence lies and also contributes to perpetuating it and becomes an accomplice,” the organizing organizations pointed out. The Platform against Sexist Violence of León recalled that it is not enough to legislate, “what is legislated must be applied.” The main demonstration of this 25N in Cantabria toured the streets of Santander. Through banners, slogans and posters, attendees demanded an end to sexist violence and murders.
At the Logroño march, Alicia, Iris, Zoe and Lola held a banner that said: “Everyone in favor of good treatment.” At 10 and 11 years old, they were at the demonstration “to defend women because gender violence is a problem that has been going on for too long.” In the capital of La Rioja, a rally of the March 8 Platform was called, made up of parties and unions, and a demonstration in the city center organized by associations that defend the “independence” of the feminist struggle. Both mobilizations have raised “the global cry of women,” they say from the Platform, “in the face of the threat of denialism”
With information from Francisca Bravo, Candela Canales, Leticia Quintanal, Maialen Ferreira, Elisa Reche, Pol Pareja, Antonio Vega, Rodrigo Saiz, Laura Martínez, Ester Fernández y Rubén Alonso.
Source: www.eldiario.es
