An answer from the feminist movement of Latin America, Europe and the Spanish State

Trump’s arrival to power in January 2017 started a new era in global politics in which democratic countries that are part of the United Nations system can openly speak against human rights without constraints. Even against the civil and political rights of large parts of the population. In many European countries, there is a discursive campaign against the Istanbul Convention. This convention establishes the framework of responsibilities that states have regarding gender-based violence, that it is now being called pejoratively “Gender Ideology”. The victory of Bolsonaro in Brazil has ringed more alarms of this new global era, a reality that could be confirmed in the next European Parliament elections.

Nevertheless, this coordinated international action, and well financed, of anti-choice groups is not new. In the last ten years, we have seen how the right to have an abortion is lost in Central America, as well as democratic freedoms. Regarding abortion, Honduras and Nicaragua – countries where the Catholic Church has strong power over the government– changed their legislation to total prohibition. In Poland, there have been different attempts to ban abortion. The Hungarian president Víktor Orbán is the main representative of European extreme right leaders that defends homophobic, xenophobic and gender-based violence discourses that sustain legislations contrary to human rights.

In the Spanish State, we also have had recent attacks on positive gender public policies. For example, Gallardón, the Spanish Minister of Justice during the Popular Party government, tried to ban abortion in 2013. This attempt was frustrated by the mobilisation of the feminist movement and the support that the Spanish population showed to this legislation and others, like the same-sex marriage legislation one. Nevertheless, the anti-rights lobbies are still actives in our country and attacking directly to the organisations and feminist activists that defend sexual rights and reproductive rights.

As Morena Herrera –one of this seminar’s speakers– states, the conservative forces have taken the sexual rights, sexual freedoms and positive gender policies as the new enemy in the ideological field, using them to advance in political positions and power. Countering them, there is the feminist movement, stronger than ever, organised at an international level. The feminist movement is also capable of facing this threat that goes beyond women’s rights and LGBTI rights, and that extends to the general basic rights framework and democracy it-self.

Download the programme

Registration: comunicacion@calala.org

Languages:

Spanish-English simultaneous translation will be available on Tuesday 11 and Wednesday 12.
On Thursday 13, Block 1 will be in English and Block 2 in Spanish without simultaneous translation.

Venue:

Ciutadella Campus, Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Room 24.S18 & Auditorium MR23. Buildings Mercè Rodoreda 24 & 23
C/ Ramon Trias Fargas 25-27, 08005 Barcelona