Since 2016, March 8 has become known as the International Feminist Strike 8M. The broad movement that called the strike and that promotes this directive invited women and diversities to leave their private spaces (work and home) to congregate in the streets around the world, in order to make the invisible visible: their power to work and provide support.
In 2023, the seventh International Feminist Strike was held in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The marches on this date provide an opportunity to learn about the agendas through the directives and demands put forward with attention-getting slogans and hashtags.
This article brings together some of those slogans and provides a visual summary of the marches in Asunción (Paraguay), Montevideo (Uruguay), Santa Fe and Córdoba (Argentina).
As a bonus track we also asked several activists to describe the world they imagine post-pandemic and how we can build it. Listen here in Spanish
Argentina
In different cities across Argentina, the protest demands were related to the request for a Feminist Judicial Reform, the economic crisis the country is going through in which debt and inflation are combined (with a marked feminisation of poverty) and the recognition of the role of community caregivers, as well as care work in general.
"With this justice system, there are no rights and no democracy. The debt is to the workers"; "We are all workers! End poverty wages. Wages above the Total Basic Basket”, and “We organise ourselves and remain alert to continue building a dignified life for all” were some of the phrases used in calls for action, across social networks and on the streets.
Córdoba: Agui Guillén for Alerta Feminista. Santa Fe: Titi Nicola for Periódicas.
Paraguay
"For our labour rights and against all violence" was the slogan articulated by the 8M Manifesto (which can be read here), a document that brought together the power of all feminist activisms in Paraguay, one of the countries in the region with fewer rights guaranteed by law so that women and diversities can live lives free of violence and discrimination.
“We are diverse working women. We are peasant women, indigenous women, women from the Bañado area, we are trans, students, mothers, carers, migrants, sex workers, lesbians, bisexuals, pansexuals, journalists, teachers, educators, platform hosts, delivery workers, artisans, firefighters, recyclers, politicians, potters, migrants, refugees, artists, graphic designers, of all ages. We repudiate all forms of job insecurity, all violence: psychological, physical, sexual, femicides, attacks by fundamentalist anti-rights groups, persecutions, evictions, and criminalisation of our struggles," the manifesto claims as was read and presented on March 8.
Milena Coral for Fondo de Mujeres del Sur
Uruguay
In Uruguay, one of the biggest concerns is the increase in extreme violence, as the rate of femicides does not stop to rise. In addition, the withdrawal of the State from public care policies with the consequent burden that falls on women and diversities is worrying, and the historical demand against structural and deep racism remains as always.
"Feminist fight: Against hunger and oppression", "Racism and patriarchy kill" were some of the slogans that were heard in the marches and seen on social media. (You can read the proclamation by Intersocial Feminista here).
Collaborative coverage by MediaRed Uruguay
imaginaciones en la pospandemia
We asked activists from different organisations supported by Fondo de Mujeres del Sur (FMS) to tell us about the world they imagine possible in coming times and how feminisms can contribute to building it. We invited Janet Choque Gutiérrez from Cooperativa Unión de Productores Familiares (La Plata, Argentina); Lucía Velázquez from Libres y Empoderadas (Misiones, Argentina); Julieta from Les Warmi (Santiago del Estero, Argentina); María Paz Moreno from Psicofem (Asunción, Paraguay), and Ana Dos Santos Rodríguez from Grupo Nzinga (Montevideo, Uruguay) to share their perspectives. Listen to their responses here.