8M in Formentera: “The world is immersed in a reactionary wave in which fascism and wars are spreading”

“We are all a little broken, but here we are”, declared F.I.G.A., the feminist collective of Formentera, during the events marking International Women’s Day (8M). The day began with the 12th edition of the Women’s Walk and Run, organised each year in support of the Spanish Association Against Cancer.

Around 400 people took part in the event, walking or running from Sant Francesc to Can Marroig.

Afterwards, a poster-hanging activity with protest messages took place in Plaça de la Constitució, followed at 1pm by a gathering and the reading of manifestos — one by the association Espai Dones and another by the collective F.I.G.A. The Bloco Colubraria batucada group also took part in the event.

Later, around 100 people, including residents and political representatives from Sa Unió, GxF and PSOE, as well as the island director of the General State Administration in Ibiza and Formentera, Raquel Guasch, attended the gathering in the square.

Reading of the manifestos

The manifesto by F.I.G.A. emphasised an “intersectional feminism” under the slogan: “Feminism will be anti-racist, anti-colonialist, anti-patriarchal, anti-Zionist, trans-inclusive — or it will not be at all”. It also criticised gender stereotypes: “They tell us to occupy our free time in order to fit into stereotypes imposed by a system in which we have no voice, in which we are not heard”.

In that sense, the collective called for unity among women: “We are more, we are all, we are together”. F.I.G.A. denounced that women “are persecuted and attempts are made to silence us; they ask for silence, saying that mad women shout too loudly and become tiring. They want us alone and afraid”, but in response they called for greater unity and louder voices.

The manifesto from Espai Dones criticised certain social media platforms: “We firmly reject spaces such as OnlyFans, which whitewash the sex trade and normalise sexual exploitation or present the objectification of the female body as an act of freedom” ,they explained.

They added: “These are harmful environments for children, who absorb misogyny through their content. That is why it is essential to teach boys new ways of being men — masculinities that do not reproduce control, domination or violence”.

The manifesto from this collective called for concrete measures “from the State to the Consell de Formentera”, particularly in the field of co-education, which they consider “key to the future of our society”.

“Today we want to defend it more than ever and demand the immediate renewal of the Balearic Co-education Plan. Protecting today’s girls and boys is the most urgent investment we can make for tomorrow’s equality”.

They also considered it essential to introduce “restrictions on digital spaces as a protection mechanism for minors in this wild west”, referring to the freedom adolescents currently have in their use of social media.

Points in common

Both manifestos shared a strong stance against war and violence against women.

The text from F.I.G.A. highlighted the issue of gender-based violence and remembered the women murdered this year: “They harass us, violate us, assault us, abuse us, kill us — and yet here we are”, they declared.

“For those who cannot be here, we stand together in the square”, they added.

Regarding war, they also referred to the more than 150 girls who have been killed “with total impunity, and they shout it in our faces”, adding: “They want us to know it, they say they can do whatever they want”.

From Espai Dones, the message was similar: “We are living through a decisive moment, with major ideological and media shifts and changes in the ways we relate to each other, driven or accelerated by social networks and the media, which are transforming our coexistence. And these changes are not only happening in Spain: one only has to look at Europe, America, Russia and the Middle East to see that the world is immersed in a reactionary wave in which fascism and wars are spreading”.

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