Cristina You Will Fail is a Spanish journalist and writer with a career that cannot be dissociated from the streets and social denunciation, especially on issues related to making violence against women visible. In recent years, it has become one of the most visible heads of the feminist movement in our country thanks to initiatives such as #tellita campaign inspired by #MeToo United States. Since the creation of this hashtag and other versions such as #It’sOverin 2023, Fallarás has received thousands of testimonies from women who share experiences of abuse and sexual violence, giving them a space to express their stories and make visible realities that are often kept silent.
Recently, the role of Fallarás has returned to the fore with the scandal of Íñigo Errejón and his resignation as spokesperson for the Sumar parliamentary group. It was precisely she who received the initial testimony that triggered and gave rise to all the others.
In a few days, he will also publish his next book Don’t publish my name (21st century)where he compiles part of the great flood of stories he received after Luis Rubiales’ non-consensual kiss to Jenni Hermoso. This project arose in response to the temporary suspension of his Instagram accountwhere he usually shares testimonies in anonymous format, and his fear that these stories could be lost or not reach those who do not browse social networks. For the author, the book not only aims to preserve a “new collective memory”, but constitutes a tool of resistance policy to break the silence around these issues. The journalist has already reported that any profits related to the work will go to feminist causes through Acción Comadres.
In this conversation, between Public and Fallarás, the author talks more in depth about how she perceives the role of anonymous testimony in feminist struggles, her perspective on the impact of Errejón’s resignation and the new challenges of the women’s liberation movement.
What has the resignation of Íñigo Errejón and the flood of testimonies that emerged after the first one he published on his Instagram account meant for the political space of the left?
The fact that Errejón was, that is, a politician from a left-wing party, has meant that he moves, that he resigns. If he had been a right-wing politician, ranks would have closed around him.they would have said the typical phrase of “everyone is innocent until proven otherwise and we will wait to see what the courts say”, that phrase with which women have usually been silenced. The fact that it happened within the left and that the left reacted shows that there is a will to correct this.
“If Errejón had been a right-wing politician, ranks would have closed around him”
On the other hand, the fact that it was Errejón has silenced the mouths of the right. That is to say, if this had been an accusation or a complaint against a politician from the PP or Vox, they would have responded like hydras and would have developed the most diverse conspiracy theories against me and against the women who give their stories. The fact that he is a left-wing politician has caused them to remain silent.
This is what I think quickly, but I confess that I haven’t had much time to think because the flood of testimonies has been so brutal… In addition to the complaints that I don’t publish. That work is not seen, but of course, complaints have rained down on me from politicians, from doctors, from priests, from television presenters, from singers, from actors, from directors of all kinds, from writers, from editors, from large companies. , department stores, banks, etc. I refer all of these to law firms. That is a job that is there, which is a very long process, but less visible.
Will names of more politicians come out?
“Many of the testimonies that I receive against politicians have already been reported within the parties and the party did not believe them”
On the right, on the left and in the center – if it exists, which does not exist – more names will appear. They will also do it from all areas because we have started something that cannot be stopped now, because all women know it. When someone questions women’s testimonies I think: it must be that you are not a woman, because no woman has been able to escape so much violence. Now, for the first time in my life, obviously conservative women come up to me and kiss me. Catholic, upper-class women come up to me and say “thank you” in a low voice. We all know what we are talking about. All.
What would have happened if Errejón had not found an environment of impunity, which at first refused to believe the victim of the Castelló nightclub?
The main problem in Errejón’s case was that after the girl’s public complaint came out in June 2023, she was made spokesperson in Congress for the Sumar parliamentary group. This gave the victims, the women who had allegedly been attacked, the feeling, not only that they were not listened to, but that the aggressor was rewarded. It is unbearable. It was at that moment, when I saw that he was appointed spokesperson, that I knew that one day a complaint would end up being filed in court; because you cannot reward an aggressor. Many of the testimonies that I receive against politicians have already been reported within the parties and the party did not believe them.
I wanted to ask you about his Instagram account, it was recently closed again. What role has the collective support of feminism played throughout the process until it is returned to you?
The thing about Instagram is that They suspend my account from time to timealthough now less so. I think the algorithm has become accustomed to my stories. At first, when I started a year and a half ago, they suspended me about three or four times a month. Close They have closed it twice: once in March 2024 and this last time. The fascinating thing about this last time is that they reopened it to me within hours, they even called me from Meta to apologize. It was the collective fight against Meta that forced the tool to be corrected. That for me is brutal because it means that If there is a collective response against a network, it is possible to modify the movement of that network and the behavior of the network.
“Thanks to the networks we have the ‘#MeToo’, the ‘#Cuéntalo’, we have spaces to communicate that we did not have before”
Networks are private companies and as ultra-rich private companies they must be considered. If an ultra-rich person sees their wealth in danger due to something, they are going to solve that something. In other words, if Meta saw or X (Twitter) saw that such an action was going to destroy its profits, it would modify whatever was necessary. That is one of its weak points and it gives us a tool. Knowing that gives us strength and above all gives us news of the dimension of the feminist movement. Thanks to the networks we have the #MeToohe #tellitwe have spaces to communicate that we did not have before, because before the traditional media did not have space for us. This must be said constantly.
What role should anonymous testimonies play in the feminist struggle?
The basis of a testimonial file is record something that happens horizontally and by accumulation. That is to say, there is no hierarchical theory that marks what someone thinks happens, but rather among thousands, hundreds of thousands or millions of women we create a collective memory. With sexual violence against women, a historical narrative has been created that did not exist. We would have to ask ourselves why until now there was no historical account of sexual violence against women. This is essential.
“Testimonies teach us to speak to ourselves, they teach us to relate to ourselves”
The testimonies, furthermore, generate, on the one hand, identification mechanisms to the women who see themselves identified in the stories of others and learn to see that this has not happened only to them. Which serves to combat guilt and shamewhich are the two historical impositions on the story of women, beyond silence. The first and most important question, in any case, is this, which breaks the silence.
At the same time, the testimonies They teach us to talk to ourselves, they teach us to relate to ourselves. The first stories that came to me were stories that were hardly publishable because they were very complicated, the women did not know how to explain themselves. Now they know how to explain perfectly what is happening to them. This learning has been collective and is useful for the courts. How many cases have been dismissed due to inconsistencies on the part of the victim? But how is a woman going to be coherent if at that moment you are completely dissociated, in shock, half choked.
What would you say to those who consider that sharing these anonymous stories on social networks can fuel a kind of collective revenge, instead of contributing to Justice or a profound change in mentality?
I would tell them that who opposes the breaking of silence, imposes silence. A thousand hoaxes can be invented, but the women who post on my wall through me are anonymous testimonies and do not point their names to anyone. What these women do is tell what has happened to them and They tell it there because they have not been able to tell it any other way.. If you object, maybe that means you want to impose silence again. The only thing I would say to them is: what are you afraid of? If you are not able to see on your own what you are afraid of, go to therapy because you have a hidden fear and perhaps it is because you have been hurt.
“Whoever opposes the breaking of silence, imposes silence”
Is it possible to maintain a restorative and non-punitive approach in these spaces in these channels?
I think there are social networks and social networks. In any case, I believe that the punitivists, who go for the jugular when we are recounting violence, are them, are the men. As soon as the possibility of attacking you like a pack appears because a girl points it out, they end up almost asking for the gallows. It is a tradition, especially among the right.
Do you think that digital activism through Twitter and other media should continue to be one of the priority channels of feminism? Or do you see it necessary to combine it with other more traditional media, physical spaces or collective organization for greater effectiveness?
“Feminism is in top form. If it weren’t for that, Errejón would not have had to resign”
I think they are parallel issues. I want to remember that the #YouAreNotAlone or #YoYesTeCreo are two hashtags and they exist because social networks exist. That was the place from which the concentrations were mobilized after The Pack and that led to the great demonstration of March 8, 2018. Far from what some want to think, I do not believe that feminism has been losing steam. This looking for new channels because we have gone through a very hard time of confrontation, of institutional inaction and that has taken its toll on us. Do you think we would be talking about this, opening newspapers, if feminism wasn’t at the forefront? The entire presence on the streets is losing strength, but Feminism is in full form. If it weren’t for that, Errejón would not have had to resign. What’s happening is that we are rethinking our strategies.
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