Feminism takes on far right

Women are providing the firmest opposition to the rise of the far-right Vox party. “Not one step backwards” was the unanimous cry from thousands of women, who on Tuesday took to the streets to show support for the women of Andalusia while PP candidate, Juanma Moreno, was sworn in as president of the region, thanks to the support of the Vox and Ciudadanos parties.

The protest in Spanish cities was replicated in Barcelona, and other parts of Catalonia, and even reached Strasbourg, where dozens of female MEPs showed their rejection of Vox. It was a “necessary” demonstration, according to Rocío Medina, from the Antígona research group, which investigates rights and society from a gender perspective at Barcelona’s autonomous university (UAB).

What Vox proposes has put feminist groups on a war footing. The threat of repealing legislation against gender abuse and abortion, and the questioning of the inclusive school model and family planning policy has stimulated opposition. Neus Moreno, who belongs to the Xarxa Feminista and Ca la Dona, insists that they are not willing to lose the rights that it cost women so much to gain after 40 years of dictatorship: “We cannot allow any form of regression,” she says.

At the heart of the feminist protest is the intention to take apart the arguments of the far right. “Vox brings to the public debate issues about which there is already consensus and it feeds controversy,” points out political scientist and professor at Catalonia’s Open University (UOC), Ernesto Pascual. That is why Laia Serra, member of the association, Dones Juristes, insists on the need to “to take advantage of the storm to generate debate and forge alliances, without giving publicity to their leaders and their toxic discourse.”