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A sea of green washed up in Congress square in central Buenos Aires on the evening of June 4th. The high tide of three years of feminist organising, of rising up against violence towards women, against fear, lapped at the seat of legislative power. The #NiUnaMenos movement that became visible in June 2015 has grown and grown in activists and causes that come together for anniversary mobilisations. Many thousands took to the streets all over Argentina, each bringing with them the issues closest to their hearts: an end to violence, economic insecurity, indebtedness. And yesterday there was an overriding theme: the demand for legal abortions.
The colour green was not accidental. The march was a sea of the green handkerchiefs worn in support of the current debate to legalise abortion. In the past few weeks public hearings have been held by Congress to find out what civil society thinks and feels about the reasons to change the law regarding access to free and legal abortion. Congress deputies will debate the law on June 13. Those in favour of extending the current rights were also demanding better implementation of a recent sexual education law. Their motto has been: ‘sexual education to choose, access to contraception to prevent abortions, legal abortions to prevent deaths.’ It is estimated that some 450,000 illegal abortions take place annually in Argentina. Complications resulting from abortions make up the first cause of maternal death.


As one of the founders, Cecilia Palmeiro, expressed in an interview to Nacla, ‘organizing in open assemblies guarantees that all voices and bodies matter and that we learn from each other […] we must create empathy between us, and need to develop a deep understanding of our differences and conflicts. It is crucial that at the same time that we contest the existing order, we create utopias, and put them into practice.’ In the process Ni Una Menos has also identified the politics they do not want to reproduce, ‘in the patriarchal capitalist terms of personal accumulation of power and group rivalries.’ The green handkerchiefs echo the white ones of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo – activists today are making the connections to the women who have led struggles and refused to give up on their vision of social justice for decades. The Madres are now in their 80s and Ni Una Menos has brought together all generations, including the very young, in a renewed sense of hope for what a group of thoughtful, committed people can achieve when they come together. The crowds chanted: ‘Now that we’re together, now that you can see us, down with the patriarchy, it’s going to fall, up with feminism, we’re going to win.’ If you are in London and want to find out more about the #NiUnaMenos movement, there are events coming up with activists from Argentina. On Wednesday 27 June a meeting will be held in Hackney, 5pm @ Campoli Presti, 223 Cambridge Heath Road, London, E2 0EL.It is crucial that at the same time that we contest the existing order, we create utopias, and put them into practice
Marcela López Levy is an Argentinian researcher and writer who has worked with social justice organisations in the UK and Latin America for the past two decades. She is currently integrating her training in psychology with social theory, looking at the importance of the imagination in social movements and specifically feminist struggles. Her most recent book is Argentina under the Kirchners: The legacy of left populism (LAB 2017, available here).
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