Today, the 25th November, is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women so we’ve had quite a busy week. Edurne, works in for Venancias an organisation that campaigns for Women’s Rights and they have been heavily involved in organising the festivities and awareness of today in collaboration with La Red de Mujeres de Matagalpa (The Matagalpa Women’s Network).
On Thursday they held a demonstration taking to the streets of Matagalpa, stopping at various political headquarters and government departments to give their message of “Ni una muerta más. Ni por femacidios ni por maternidad forzada” (Not one more death. Not by femicide or by forced maternity). One of the main campaigns of the Women’s Movement in Nicaragua at the moment is the right for women to be able to have therapeutic abortions which is currently illegal. Therapeutic abortion is where a pregnancy is terminated as it is life threatening to the mother and/or fetus or because the pregnancy has occurred as a result of sexual abuse such as rape or incest. The other part of the campaign is about the lack of judicial will and power to prosecute people that murder women. In many senses women are second class citizens and therefore, if a women is murdered, very little attention is given to it and the issue is basically swept under the carpet. The Women’s Movement is fighting for a change in this culture so that the culprits are prosecuted.
The following day was a dedicated to activism through theatre and music. The were several performances at the Venancias Cultural Centre with great messages and humour thrown in together to provide an evening of entertainment.
Saturday 24th November was a fun filled day, in the morning we had a Carnival and took to the streets once again with banners, fancy dress and decorations. Although it rained it didn’t spoil the good humour or sense of being united to fight for basic Women’s Human Rights. I also invited a new quadriplegic friend of mine so it was a good chance for me to have a chat and listen about the issues facing disabled people in Nicaragua.
In the afternoon La Red de Mujeres de Matagalpa held a press conference at Venancias about the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Part of this was to launch a new documentary about violence against women by a Spanish director, Félix Zurita de Higes, called “Ya No Más!” Also present was the lead singer of a Nicaraguan pop group, Perrozompopo, to talk about why they were supporting the day by playing at a free concert on the day which had been organised by La Red de Mujeres de Matagalpa. You may be wondering why I was at the press conference….. the answer is simple, firstly I was invited and secondly, there was free rum and food up for grabs….. well come on, what do you expect?
In the evening there was live music at Venancias and quite frankly we sat around relaxing and drinking. A great way to spend the evening after a hard day of protesting!
25th November - International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
The day eventually arrived and I already felt quite exhausted! At 4pm there was the launch of the film Ya No Más! and afterwards the concert by Perrozompopo. The film was very moving and many people were brought to tears, based on the real experiences of real women that have been through and are going through violent situations in their lives. At the moment the film isn’t available with English subtitles but it should be soon. I encourage everyone to watch it at least once to see the reality of what is happening everywhere in the world in the 21st century, it’s almost unbelievable. The Perrozompopo concert was a huge success and here are the photos to prove it…..
The activities, entertainment and documentary to “celebrate” and support the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women were informative, disturbing, thought provoking, worrying, eye-opening yet most of all relaxed, peaceful and fun. La Red de Mujeres de Matalgalpa should make the Women’s Movement proud, the pulled out all the stops and went to a lot of effort to publicise the issues surrounding violence against women. I for one am better educated about the subject and I’m sure that many other people are too.
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