Balkan Women Plan Protest Marches Across Region
Women’s rights activists all over the Balkans will be leading other rights organisations and leftist groups at a series of rallies on Thursday, marking International Women’s Day and demanding better rights and more equal treatment.
In Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the women’s CURE Foundation is organising a march with members of the Women’s Network in order to highlight the problems that women face.
“Unfortunately, despite the strong role that women in Bosnia have played in history, in 2018 many of us are on the very margins of society,” CURE said in its call to join the march.
The protest will begin at 1pm in front of parliament, and will follow a route through Marshal Tito Street to the Children’s Square.
The CURE Foundation said capitalism had created a system that made life difficult for everyone, while in combination with patriarchy women toil for even less.
The activists say “re-traditionalisation, fascism, nationalism and patriarchy” have conquered Bosnia, oppressing women, their freedom and their rights.
In Sofia, the Bulgarian Fund for Women will take to the streets for its annual women’s march to remind the public that “there is still no gender equality in Bulgaria and to urge dialogue”.
“The march for women’s rights takes place to remind us that every third woman in Bulgaria is a victim of violence, that women are poorer than men and that their labour is valued less,” the organizers said.
On March 7, the government of Boyko Borissov withdrew its earlier decision to send the Council of Europe’s convention on preventing and combating violence against women, known as the Istanbul Convention, to parliament for ratification.
in Romania, activists from Feminism Romania have called for a protest against domestic violence on International Women’s Day in front of the Ministry of Interior in Bucharest. Participants are asked to wear black and carry a red carnation.
Romania has one of the highest rates of domestic violence in the European Union.
Three women have been knifed in public places this year by their partners or former partners, despite having asked for help from the police.
Activists are also angry after an investigation in January revealed that a traffic police officer, caught on camera molesting two children, had been involved in several sex crimes against women and children since 2009, while his co-workers allegedly covered up his offences.
“Women and many others have sought help from an institution that was incapable of saving their lives,” the activists said in their call for the protest.
The activists seek new legislation to ensure the protection of sexual assault victims, such as electronic bracelets for offenders, better working procedures and more training for the police.
They are also asking for better psychological testing system for police officers, mixed patrols to investigate domestic violence cases, and an evaluation system that would allow victims to complain against police if they are not handling cases well.
Nine organisations from Serbia will be staging their own protest in Belgrade’s central Republic Square under the slogan “Death to fascism – Freedom to women”, referencing a popular anti-Fascist slogan from World War II.
“We march again this year against the oppressive policies of patriarchy and capitalism, which threaten us as women,” the organizers said in a joint press statement.
The Serbian activists said they wanted to stand up against “decades of economic inequality, criminalisation and police oppression, racial and sexual violence, endless global war and terrorism”.
In Kosovo, under the slogan “We march, we don’t celebrate!” activists will be protesting on Thursday against women’s inability to achieve social and gender justice.
“We don’t have a reason to celebrate,” is written on the invitation of this group of activists, organisations, academics and others.
The protest will also condemn prevalent unemployment and poverty, “as forms of structural violence exercised upon citizens of the Republic of Kosovo”.
The protest will take place at 12pm starting from Zahir Pajaziti Square in Pristina, while the activists say they will continue with strikes, protests and other forms of political resistance to patriarchal and social injustice.
In Montenegro, the Women Rights Center is organizing its traditional March 8 march, calling on Montenegrins to stand up against discrimination and for a better, fairer society.
Montenegro has been marked as a front-runner in EU integration by the European Commission. However, it remains a very patriarchal society, in which selective abortions of female children and pressure on women to give birth to sons remain widespread.
Read more:
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