ATHENS
International woman’s day is not a day for sales and discounts on beauty products for women. Nor is it a day to gift flower bouquets to the “fair sex”.
International woman’s day –which was established in 1911 in honour and memory of female workers’ activism in the clothing and textile industry in the USA on 1908– symbolises women’s fight for equal rights in the workplace and in the household. We follow the thread, the fiber of their struggles, which started centuries ago, and today reaches as far and wide as Turkey, Kobanî, Poland, Latin America, and even the US the following day of Trump’s election to the President’s seat.
We experience every day, as women, the results of austerity, unemployment, uncertainty, the restrictions and violence of the patriarchy, of its sexism and rape culture. We march on the streets for many and various reasons; starting from reproductive rights and the outcry against male violence, to the opposition to the uncertain future created by the shrinking of the welfare state. We march against homophobia, transphobia and racism.
On March 8, we march once again.
We will march again to write history anew, along with thousands of women in over 40 countries around the globe this day. In a world that is being run by sexists, we march to proclaim that we will never show obedience to any of their sexist laws!
We will unite our voices in solidarity with every woman striving and fighting: women in labour unions, in neighbourhood collectives, in solidarity frameworks and mutual aid networks; women who offer their time and energy for the betterment of society and societal change; women who defend their right to their sexual and gender identity and defy labels and social norms. But also, the women who are overcoming the odds to feed their children and take care of their families, immigrant and refugee women, hoping for a better day.
We unite our voices with anyone who is oppressed by the patriarchy and our allies who realise the need to oppose such a system. Our goal is to stand in unity against any and all political, cultural and economic attacks that target women and to render visibility to our needs and expectations. Until the day we celebrate our victory.
On March 8, women’s struggles take priority.
There will be a peaceful gathering at Klafthmonos Square at 19:00 and a peaceful march towards the Parliament afterwards.