A purple tide swept through the streets of Murcia this Wednesday, from the Plaza de la Fuensanta to the Puente Viejo passing through the Gran Vía, in the massive and already traditional demonstration of 8M, International Women’s Day.
Thousands of people (the Government Delegation did not give figures) joined their voices to make it clear that, although progress has been made in recent years, there is still a long way to go to achieve real equality with men. And, unlike the last two years, without masks or restrictions due to the covid-19 pandemic.
To the traditional demands (to end the wage gap, to break the glass ceiling, to eradicate sexist violence), on March 8, 2023, the demand to the Government of Spain for the repeal of the Gag Law was added, one of the pending accounts of the PSOE-Unidas Podemos coalition, and a show of solidarity with Sandra, a young woman from Murcia who on March 14 will sit on the bench for the incidents that occurred on the train tracks of Santiago el Mayor at the end of the 8M demonstration of 2018.
“Sandra absolution!” and “Sandra, sister, we are your pack” were some of the most heard chants during the march, which was led by the activists of the Feminist Assembly, whose banner read “Together against inequality and precariousness.”
Among them was the vice president of the Assembly and deputy of the PSOE, Gloria Alarcón, who considered that the young woman from the tracks is being the victim of “a very strange excess of judicial zeal.” However, Alarcón wanted to emphasize the historical problems of women, such as the wage gap and, mainly, sexist violence, “which in the Region reaches unbearable levels due to the lack of resources.” Likewise, Murcian women are victims, in the opinion of the Feminist Assembly, “of insufficient public services.”
Unlike other years, in the demonstration of this 8M the two main groups of feminism in the Region of Murcia were united: the aforementioned Feminist Assembly and the Feminist Movement. However, although they put aside their differences in search of unity in the protest, the discrepancies between the two are still palpable. Olvido Garrido, from the Feminist Movement, celebrated that the demonstration was “a great success, because we have all been united in solidarity with Sandra, for feminism without a gag.”
However, Garrido criticized “the attempt to appropriate the march by the PSOE”, which is linked to the Feminist Assembly. “This pifostio was not necessary,” he said, in relation to the concert organized by the Murcia City Council at the end of the demonstration.
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In addition, during the tour many other demands were seen, such as support for women who suffer in countries like Iran or Afghanistan. Although there are people for everything. Three Spanish Muslim girls, Mariam, Leyla and Assia, claimed their right to wear the headscarf and veil. “It seems like it’s only okay to uncover yourself, and not cover yourself up.”
The Law of ‘only yes is yes’ also permeated the environment. No criticism was heard of the Minister for Equality, Irene Montero, nor of the judges for the trickle of sentence reductions for sex offenders and releases that have come after the rule of the Government of Spain. Of course, the protesters made it clear that they are in favor of the philosophy of law: consent comes first. “No is no, the rest is rape,” sang a group of students from the University of Murcia.
Other groups, such as Columbares, put women who suffer from poverty and exclusion at the center of their claims. “The face of poverty in this Region are single-parent families,” said Rosa Cano, director of the association.
The march had a broad representation of political parties. The PSOE was represented by the mayor of Murcia, José Antonio Serrano, and almost all of the deputies in the Assembly. José Vélez did not go when he was a government delegate. Serrano stressed that in these two years at the head of the Consistory there have been advances for the women of the municipality, including the creation of an Equality Department. Also present were the spokeswoman for Podemos, María Marín; the coordinator of Citizens, María José Ros; the head of More Region, Óscar Urralburu; and the deputy of Verdes-Equo, Helena Vidal, among others.
Two parallel manifestos and a musical performance
The International Women’s Day demonstration ended in the Martínez Tornel square, next to the Old Bridge, where the Feminist Assembly and the Feminist Movement read two manifestos. The second, more focused on Sandra and the repeal of the Gag Law. At the end, those who stayed could enjoy the performance of the Murcian musical group Las Wonder. In addition, during the march some feminist hymns were heard, such as ‘Ay, mamá’, by Rigoberta Bandini, and a version of the latest hit by Colombian singer Shakira.
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