Received from the Revolutionary Communist Group, Colombia:

Stop Patriarchy and the War Against Women!

March 9, 2020 | revcom.us

 

Throughout the world, dividing lines are being drawn between reinforcing patriarchy or emancipating women. Harassment, rape, brutality, acid attacks, femicide, forced maternity, and all other forms of oppression of women impose and reflect blatant patriarchy and occur to such an extent that they cannot be considered less than an actual war against women. And this has given rise to a rebellion against this war... or parts of it.

It is no exaggeration to say that the struggle of women “is setting the pace of politics in Latin America,” and that this March 8 “the femicides, gender violence and abortion are summoning thousands of women to struggle,” as the international press points out, highlighting the high rates of femicide, rampant judicial impunity, widespread gender violence, kidnappings, and disappearances of women and girls, deaths from back alley abortions, restricted access to obstetric health, and poverty which feeds on women. In addition, we are seeing an unprecedented expansion of prostitution and the sex trade.

In Colombia the effects of the war on women, as well as rebellion against this war, have been reflected, to the extent that the superior courts in one single week have been forced to rule on abortion (on Monday) and on violence against women (Friday) while in the media complaints of sexual harassment against a dozen teachers at the teacher training school in Bucaramanga were being discussed (something which is not an “isolated case”).

The situation of sexual violence and femicide is alarming. In 2019, 80 women were murdered every month in Colombia. But in 2020, abortion has been more visible in Colombia where it is legal to interrupt pregnancy only in cases of rape, fetal malformation, or danger to the physical or mental health or life of the woman. Faced with a lawsuit from an antiabortion attorney seeking maximum penalization, the Constitutional Court was divided, and left things as they were. But the political battle is not stopping. The antiabortion forces hope that the even more regressive Congress will impose legal restrictions that will reinforce the barriers that women face when dealing with the health care system which with every passing day is more in the hands of religious fundamentalists.

The description of the revolutionary communists in the United States is very true: “All over the world, reactionaries and religious fundamentalists are waging a relentless assault on hard won rights, seizing the reins of government, the courts, the media, and making intrusions into every possible corner of our private lives and relationships to restore traditional morality where women are subordinated to men and their patriarchal authority. And all over the world, people are yearning for these chains to be broken... And they can be!” (from the Revolution Tour, revcom.us). And equally true are the consequences: Every person who refuses to accept a world where women are subordinated, dominated, degraded, beaten, mutilated, and murdered to keep them in their place needs to stand together with the women who are taking to the streets, from Argentina and Chile to Mexico and India, to demand an end to sexual assault and femicides. People need to support the women who are taking off hijabs in Iran, as well as people need to stand with the LGBTQ people who are being discriminated against and attacked worldwide.

Yes. There is a real war against women. All over the world. And it needs to be seen as such and not just see partial aspects of it. In times in which the advances in the situation of women in recent decades are under attack, the outlook and actions of the “feminist” movement really mean throwing wrenches in the wheels of the emancipation of women. “At a time of massive food-crises, all-around economic crisis and imperialist wars that steal lives by the millions, when the need is greater and more urgent than ever to bring about a radically different world where humanity is unchained as a whole, these ‘feminist leaders’ aim no higher than the fight for individual women to be able to ‘get in on’ the perks that go with being on the top of the dog-eat-dog heap” [from “A Declaration: For Women’s Liberation And The Emancipation Of All Humanity,” revcom.us ]. In the recent struggles against patriarchy in Colombia, the predominant position of feminist organizations revolves around the logic of “not paying attention [to women haters and/or religious fundamentalists] so as not to empower them” and thus legitimize the social order by creating illusions on impacting “favorable public policies.” This is a stupid and convenient logic that leads them to feel safe in their “liberated and empowered” ghetto.

The oppression of women is not a matter of identity nor is it exclusive to women. Thus, the call of the revolutionary communists of Iran should be taken up by all displaced youth who fight against poverty and discrimination, the fighters in the trade union movement, the teacher activists, the environmentalists, the students, and the entire community to condemn all forms of oppression of women throughout the world, and join the struggle of women to eradicate patriarchy. And we call on struggling women to broaden the battlefield against the oppression of women and to fight against the entire capitalist system and on the road to the liberation of all humanity. We call on women to get into the revolution and become liberators of humanity.

As the Revolutionary Communist Organization, Mexico, rightly points out:

[V]iolence and oppression against women cannot be eliminated under this system. It is often said that the problem is impunity, or the lack of good laws, or the lack of “political will,” or corruption, etc. This describes the consequences, without getting at the causes. Ask yourself, Why, no matter how much we fight, impunity and other symptoms of the problem always prevail? Why is it that the few victories, the few cases of justice that we achieve, do not become the new norm, but continue to be the exception and even the system tries to reverse them? Because the fundamental problem is the system. It is necessary to cast away false illusions and intensify the struggle with a scientific understanding of the problem and of the solution. To end patriarchy and emancipate women, it is necessary to overthrow the capitalist system, knock down the current state, create a new socialist system, and continue the struggle to transform everything that remains which stinks of oppression, as part of communist revolution worldwide, to end all forms of exploitation and oppression throughout the world. This is a big struggle, full of difficulties and sacrifices, but it is the only road that can create the new world that humanity needs, and has a firm basis for it to become a reality, in the sharp contradictions of the system, including the oppression of women which is becoming increasingly unbearable and explosive now. With the theory of the new communism developed by Bob Avakian as a guide, it is really possible to fight for and win the emancipation of women and of all humanity.

Break ALL the Chains! Unleash the Fury of Women as a Mighty Force for Revolution!

Revolutionary Communist Group, Colombia | March 8, 2020