March the 8th: for every woman and girl
We are witnessing the advance of feminism at all levels, and this 8 March strikes and demonstrations will take place in cities all over the planet. Even so there is still a long path ahead of us, and complex times are approaching. We need our policies to guarantee the full equality and rights of women, and a greater social sensitivity to the types of aggression we face.
Whilst women are increasingly more aware of the structural discrimination we suffer, through mobilisation and the vindication of our rights, various groups in Europe and the world use sexist discourse as an instrument to discredit us. We must, from our side, repeat unflaggingly that feminism means equality. We must continue demanding our full rights, our place in society and history.
Women face all kinds of violence and discrimination in the six continents, which comes in different guises and at many levels: feminisation of poverty, sexual violence, slavery, human trafficking, genital ablation, forced marriage, gender pay gap, glass ceiling, double workdays, and a long etcetera of violence and discrimination which blights the lives of millions of women all over the world. It is important to remember that half the population of the world is female.
In order to confront this deep scourge, we need a political compromise that encourages the inclusion of the feminist perspective both at institutional and educational level. The involvement of each one of us, women and men, in this real change, is paramount. As societies, we cannot tolerate that one out of every three women in the world is a victim of gender-based violence, nor that in the European Union the average wage gap between genders is around 16%.
For all of these reasons, on International Women’s Day we will be confronting all those challenges for our rights, for the rights of the “voiceless” women, who had their voices usurped from them, for those whose compromise has brought us thus far, for those who are no longer here, for those who will come. 8 March: for every woman and girl.
Francisca Sauquillo, SOLIDAR President
MIRADA DE MUJER - “With the eyes of a women” is the title of a book which our President Paca Sauquillo published in 2000. SOLIDAR network is proud to have a true feminist and fighter for human and women’s rights as President. She gained a law degree and started very early to engage in the fight against the Franco dictatorship, defending workers and anti-fascists even in the time of dictatorship. She was co-founder of the Organisación Revolucionaria de Trabajadores (ORT) and after the move to democracy joined the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE). She was a Member of Parliament; Senator and Member of the European Parliament. She was founder of our Spanish member organisation MOVIMIENTO POR LA PAZ Y LA DEMOCRACIA and in both Europe and all parts of the world has been active in advancing Peace and Social Justice. We met 40 years ago and for seven years now she has been our President in SOLIDAR. She sets an example for tireless fighting and commitment. A true European and global feminist!
Conny Reuter, SOLIDAR Secretary General
