This March 8, women and diversities of Argentina marched under the slogan “Feminisms to change everything”. Thousands of people mobilized on this first March 8th with a new libertarian president who denies the gender gap, closes the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and prohibits the use of inclusive language in the public sphere. The main rally was at the Congress, where a document entitled “We were a tide, we will be a tsunami” was read, saying: “With this day of struggle we say that freedom is ours and not of the markets nor of the governments”.
The mobilization was diverse and transversal, demonstrating the convening capacity of feminisms. Various social movements such as La Poderosa, the MTE and the Frente Patria Grande participated, as well as union sectors such as the CGT, the CTA, ATE, SUTEBA, CONADU, among others. The protest was qualified, in the document agreed upon, as a day of strike “international feminist anti-patriarchal, anti-fascist, anti-racist, anti-racist, anti-tracist, anti-colonial, anti-capitalist, anti-clerical, anti-ciscissexist, anti-speciesist, anti-biologist and plurinational”.
One of the main controversies revolved around the “anti-picketing protocol” established by President Javier Milei in December and which generated strong criticism for its repressive nature and limiting freedom of expression. For this reason, there was a large police presence and the Congress was fenced off to guarantee the circulation of cars on Callao Avenue. However, this did not reduce the number of people who arrived in the area and it did cause women to set up health posts in case they were gassed and to plan an organized deconcentration in groups to avoid solitary police chases.
In an act of provocation, that same day, the Government decided to change the name of the Women’s Hall of the Casa Rosada. That space had been created during Cristina Kirchner’s presidency to recognize the contribution of women in the history of the country. There were Juana Azurduy and María Remedios del Valle, outstanding for their bravery during the struggles for independence. Also Mariquita Sánchez de Thompson, recognized for hosting the first performance of the Argentine National Anthem in 1811, Alicia Moreau de Justo, Eva Perón, as well as Victoria Ocampo, Alfonsina Storni and María Elena Walsh, among others. Since March 8, the hall has male heroes. In response, activists posted photos of the streets full of people demonstrating and wrote the caption: “new women’s hall“.
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