Date Published: 08/03/2023
ARCHIVED - A complicated International Womens Day 2023 in Spain: The feminist movement is divided
There have been physical altercations and factionalism this March 8, International Women’s Day
It has been an International Women’s Day marked by controversy in Spain this year, for several reasons. In what should be a call for solidarity among all women, there has been little more than in-fighting and backbiting.
As well as its newly proposed bill to ensure equality of representation for women and men in politics and large enterprises, the government also passed modifications to its ‘Only Yes is Yes’ (Solo Sí es Sí) sexual equality law to water it down.
For yet another year, the feminist movement has been split in Madrid, with two separate factions undertaking different routes on their marches, divided over the issue of the Trans Law.
Indeed, Irene Montero, the Minister for Equality herself, was booed at an event where she was speaking, with some attendees shouting out, “Feminism has been infected by parasites.”
In turn, Minister Montero invited the group to go up to the rostrum to explain their ideas. “This has to be a safe space for everyone. If you want to come up, come up and explain your ideas.”
The demonstrators reproached the Minister of Equality for only caring about trans people: “If you don’t know how to define what a woman is and you don’t know why we are oppressed... logically feminists agree that trans people suffer discrimination, but you are misconceptualising what oppression and discrimination are. Our fight is not against these people, it is with the rights of women who were born with a biological reality that you deny.”
The Minister insisted, “My obligation as minister is to respect human rights and to say that a trans woman is not a woman is to violate human rights. That is precisely what education in equality and sex education is for, so that we all take care of ourselves and respect each other.”
Physical violence in Barcelona
In Barcelona, three demonstrators climbed on top of a car on Avenida Diagonal during the march there and the driver drove away with them on top.
Atropello a manifestantes del #8Marzo que cortaban la carretera
— SocialDrive (@SocialDrive_es) March 8, 2023
📹 Avda. Diagonal, Barcelona pic.twitter.com/VpCrAq9WKV
The driver, who was accompanied by a child she was taking to school, tried to cross the Diagonal, which was closed due to the demonstrations there. Not wanting to stop to let her pass, several young women got on top of the vehicle and when the driver accelerated, two of them were dragged a few metres, while the third one clung to the side of the vehicle.
Image: Irene Montero / Twitter
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