Lola Venegas, spokesperson for the Feminist Movement: "They are calling for violence against abolitionists"

• Direct Last minute of March 8

• 8-M Feminists opposed to the Trans Law boycott the institutional act of Equality led by Irene Montero

In 2020 it was the last time that the feminist movement went together with 8-M.

On that occasion, the so-called abolitionists - they want to end prostitution and pornography - denounced attacks on their banners.

Today, for the second consecutive year, they demonstrate freely as

.

They criticize the feminist policy of the Government, oppose the Trans Law, which they consider "an erasure of women", and assure that they warned of the effects of the law that only yes is

.

acts as spokesperson.

Why does 8-M come in two separate demonstrations? Because we understand that issues that are foreign to women's interests are being incorporated into the feminist agenda, when they do not collide head-on with women's interests.

Going to a demonstration where abolitionist slogans are silenced and those who consider that prostitution is a job opportunity for women are cheered... We think that feminism cannot be there. What other issues separate them? We denounce the imposition of the veil We do not interpret it as a cultural tradition to be respected, we denounce surrogates, which are still allowed in Spain.

Babies bought from vulnerable women in other countries are being allowed to be legalized.

We denounce pornography as a school of violence,

the setbacks in equality - the pandemic has created more equality gaps - and we denounce the botched laws, which have released sexual offenders prematurely.

The demonstration of the Feminist Movement in Madrid is critical of the anti-feminist policies of the Government. These days they have asked for the resignation of Irene Montero, why? We have asked for her resignation because she has not dedicated the Ministry of Equality to defending the rights of women women, but to other interests.

She seems to us to be the first person in charge, but also Pedro Sánchez, who is ultimately responsible for the management carried out by the ministries of his Government, for this reason we have also disapproved of his management. On what specific points do you disagree with the management of Equality? We can start with any of the laws that have been passed.

the law of

The demonstration of the Feminist Movement in Madrid is critical of the anti-feminist policies of the Government. These days they have asked for the resignation of Irene Montero, why? We have asked for her resignation because she has not dedicated the Ministry of Equality to defending the rights of women women, but to other interests.

She seems to us to be the first person in charge, but also Pedro Sánchez, who is ultimately responsible for the management carried out by the ministries of his Government, for this reason we have also disapproved of his management. On what specific points do you disagree with the management of Equality? We can start with any of the laws that have been passed.

the law of

The demonstration of the Feminist Movement in Madrid is critical of the anti-feminist policies of the Government. These days they have asked for the resignation of Irene Montero, why? We have asked for her resignation because she has not dedicated the Ministry of Equality to defending the rights of women women, but to other interests.

She seems to us to be the first person in charge, but also Pedro Sánchez, who is ultimately responsible for the management carried out by the ministries of his Government, for this reason we have also disapproved of his management. On what specific points do you disagree with the management of Equality? We can start with any of the laws that have been passed.

the law of

Why? We have asked for your resignation because you have not dedicated the Ministry of Equality to the defense of women's rights, but to other interests.

She seems to us to be the first person in charge, but also Pedro Sánchez, who is ultimately responsible for the management carried out by the ministries of his Government, for this reason we have also disapproved of his management. On what specific points do you disagree with the management of Equality? We can start with any of the laws that have been passed.

the law of

Why? We have asked for your resignation because you have not dedicated the Ministry of Equality to the defense of women's rights, but to other interests.

She seems to us to be the first person in charge, but also Pedro Sánchez, who is ultimately responsible for the management carried out by the ministries of his Government, for this reason we have also disapproved of his management. On what specific points do you disagree with the management of Equality? We can start with any of the laws that have been passed.

the law of

On what specific points do you disagree with the management of Equality? We can start with some of the laws that have been carried out.

the law of

On what specific points do you disagree with the management of Equality? We can start with some of the laws that have been carried out.

the law of

it's a botch

Numerous women's associations, including jurists, presented allegations to the ministry warning that they were going to reduce their sentences.

And, of course, the approval of the so-called Trans Law, which establishes new jaws for voices critical of the concept of gender identity.

It seems to us that this law, as we have already warned through allegations and proposed amendments, collides head-on with many women's rights based on sex, but once again Irene Montero's ministry has ignored the alarms of women's organizations.

If you eliminate sex in favor of gender identity you remove many protections that have been put in place to protect women. If, for example,

In the statistics, instead of considering the biological sex, you consider the felt sex. It is impossible to detect inequality gaps or who is the victim and who is the perpetrator. What do you think of the reform of the "only yes is yes" law? We We still have no news on how it turned out.

Obviously, this law must be reformed, but it seems to us that a botched law like that should have been avoided and not have given rise to the more than 700 reductions in sentences that have occurred and will continue to occur.

They did not want to listen to alarms in their day, they have pushed forward with an absolutely inexplicable arrogance and we are seeing the consequences.

The feminist movement has never asked for a reduction in sentences for aggressors and rapists. They accuse Pedro Sánchez of having broken his electoral promises... That's right.

The President of the Government, for example, promised that this legislature would make progress on a law to abolish prostitution and nothing has been done.

Among the points of the agreement of the coalition government is to prevent easy access to pornography and act against agencies that offer to rent a woman outside of Spain so that she can give up her son and that, once he arrives here, he can be registered thanks to a 2010 instruction that allows it.

Reproductive exploitation is illegal in Spain and nothing is being done.

As regards sexist violence, all the indicators indicating a greater lack of protection for women have increased.

In 2022, 40% of the victims of sexist murders had denounced.

No year has there been such a high number of women who had denounced and still have been murdered.

State protection has failed.

The equality law has also been breached, there have been no significant advances in a greater representation of women in any field, neither in culture nor in the company... Pedro Sánchez has announced a law to achieve more parity, but we already have a law of equality since 2007, what is needed is to comply with it.

Head of the demonstration of the Feminist Movement of Madrid. ANA MARÍA ORTIZ

The Government is incorporating into the feminist agenda issues that are alien to the interests of women

They say that Podemos has colonized the feminist movement... It has incorporated into the feminist movement issues that are foreign to women's interests and their rights.

He is calling everything feminism and everything not feminism.

Feminism has a political agenda: equal wages, equal access to jobs, rowing in favor of ending violence against women and not delving into inequalities between women and men with completely unscientific concepts such as gender identity as a substitute for sex. , which, let us not forget, is the basis of the oppression of women.

Yes, we have said that Podemos has entered the women's movement to incorporate issues that are not of interest to women or that directly conflict with women's interests.

Did the rupture of the feminist movement coincide with the entry of Unidas Podemos into the Government? In the 8-M demonstrations there has always been a bloc that more clearly denounced issues such as the abolition of prostitution and others where they preferred to ignore that topic.

In the last demonstration before the pandemic [2020] there were even attacks on abolitionist banners, both in Madrid and Barcelona.

Abolitionist banners were torn down and that was a turning point.

In addition, we were being expelled from the spaces and assemblies where the 8M was being prepared. The image of a banner hung on a bridge in the Vallecas neighborhood circulates on social networks before the demonstration against you.

It reads: "Terf [acronym in English for Radical Trans Exclusionary Feminists"], watch your back...

It is a call to violence clearly, whoever has made it will be responsible if violence occurs in the demonstrations.

The word Terf is not a neutral word, it is not an acronym, it is a call to exercise violence against abolitionist women. Have they denounced the banner? Yes.

It is intolerable, it is a direct, explicit threat, it seems to us a very serious fact. It seems that there is an open war within the feminist movement... I don't see it that way.

What there is is an attempt to redirect the feminist agenda by hook or by crook.

By good means, in the sense of having different positions, fine;

but the hard way, no. Has there been any attempt to approach? No, not at all.

I know that many women's organizations have spent the entire legislature asking to meet with Irene Montero, with the ministers most involved in the laws,

like those of Justice and Health, even with the President of the Government, meetings have been repeatedly requested and none have been attended.

There is no interest in promoting a rapprochement, there isn't.

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• March 8

• Feminism

• Articles Ana Maria Ortiz