“It cost me a lot, but Little by little I realized that this was not love, that it was over.. And now I’m happy, life is hard, but I’m happy,” he explains through tears. Carmen, one of the 6,000 people who this Saturday, November 25, joined the demonstration against sexist violence in Barcelona, according to data from the City Council, and which has been repeated in dozens of cities in Catalonia and throughout Spain. The march, which traveled along Passeig de Gràcia and Gran Via in Barcelona to Plaza Universitat, was organized by the ‘Feminist Name’ platform with the slogan ‘It’s over’, remembering the movement of the women’s soccer players after Luis Rubiales’ non-consensual kiss. “It was the maximum expression of the impunity of sexist violence, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” said Sofía, another of the participants in the march.
Carmen does not let go of her banner: ‘We are fed up with so many balls,’ she says. “As a woman psychologically abused by my ex-husband, I don’t want anyone else to go through this.. And if you have to go out, you go out. But they have the problem,” explains the woman, who still remembers the night before denouncing her husband, at age 39. “I slept with my son’s trophy in case I had to defend myself“, he points out. He says that it was his daughter, who accompanied him in the demonstration, who helped him understand and rebel against the control, harassment and undermining of his husband. Now works 10 hours a week cleaning offices to be able to maintain the home where she lives with her two children. “I have to work a lot, it’s very hard… but I was brave and I came out. And I come here to tell women that there is a way out, that they are not alone,” she insists excitedly.
Sara and Blanca, two thirtysomethings, remember that the murdered women are just the tip of the iceberg. “To me they have been harassed in the subway, on the street… it’s unfair and I want it to end now, that’s why we are here,” says Blanca. “Well, before it was much worse. The men They stripped you naked in the street, they threw chives at you…and you couldn’t say anything. They treated you like their doll, without a say“answered Mercè, a 65-year-old veteran of feminism. “What I can’t stand at work is that men don’t let me speak, I have to shout louder than them,” complained Raquel, 26. “Mothers We are also one of the great victims of machismo: we suffer economic violence, vicarious violence, We have to support unpaid care, we do not care under the same conditions as them and this is a tremendous consequence of patriarchy and sexist violence,” the members of the Petra Collective insisted.
Against the ultra-right and hatred
“We have to show the world that we are facing the extreme right, with everything that is happening in Spain and globally, that hate speech is on the rise,” lamented Blanca, who after years of not attending feminist demonstrations, is Have you ever wanted to go out? And among the banners of ‘No means no if you want flexibility, do yoga’, ‘Guarantees of healing and reparation to the victims’, ‘Alone, drunk, I want to get home’, you could also see a huge green scarf, a symbol of feminist movement in Argentina and the right to abortion. “After Milei’s victory, women’s rights are being used as a bargaining chip, we must hear our voices and not take a step back,” lamented Marina, an Argentine migrant in Barcelona, along with a group of compatriots. At the same time, many have been seen flags in support of the Palestinian people.
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The demonstration has been led by feminist groups and social movements, for example the women of the migrant women’s union SindiLlar, who denounced the problems of the immigration law that make it even more difficult to report the situation of violence against migrant women.
Political parties and institutions have also been present at the demonstration. “The events of this summer show that we need structural changes… We have adopted the discourse of female soccer players to eradicate sexist violence,” said the Minister of Feminisms. Tania Verge. “We must stand up to hate speech and the regressive wave against women’s rights,” insisted Verge, who pointed out that while the Generalitat has tripled the funds to care for and accompany the victims of sexist violence, Ayuso in Madrid has reduced the funds to 20% and other governments with VOX have reduced or eliminated these resources. The PSC, ERC, Junts, the ‘comuns’ and the ‘CUP’ have also supported the protest with their presence at the demonstration, who have also asked for more media for women.