For the right of peoples’ Self-Determination: support for Catalonia
Catalan women and men have been building for years a democratic process to exercise their right to self-determination to which every people is entitled. In the last five or six years of this process social mobilizations have been massive, turning this legitimate claim into a sovereignty process that as a popular social and transformative character . We, women of The World March of Women as a feminist, anti-capitalist , anti-racist and anti-patriarchal political movement, meets with enthusiasm and supports all the peoples who fight for their freedom to build their future by exercising the democratic right to decide as today the Catalonian people does. We defend a progressist and anti-patriarchal project that respects the rights of migrant people.
This process that is being developed in the recent years has come to a situation of greater confrontation with the Spanish state around the realization of a popular consultation – referendum – called by the legitimate Catalan government emanated from the polls in 2015. Faced with this democratic proposal, the Spanish State, heir of Franco’s dictatorship, responded with militarization, repression and suppression of rights: arrests of senior government officials, searches in official headquarters, political parties, private houses, displacement of state security forces to take over the country and accusations of sedition to the major social entities involved in the process.
The World March of Women condemns this repressive response by the powers of the Spanish State aimed at preventing the peoples’ right to self-determination and show our support to the women and men of Catalonia who are taking the streets and are mobilized on a permanent, democratic and peaceful way to demand the realization of the popular consultation.
A couple of years ago we demanded through a worldwide mobilization the need for our bodies and our territories to be free of aggression and occupation; in the same way we work every day to build a fairer world in which women and the peoples are masters of their future and can exercise the right to transform the old and outdated European and -worldwide- institutions into new opportunities to place the right to live with dignity and freedom in the centre of the concerns.
In feminist sisterhood,
In support of the right to self- determination,
We will keep marching, until all women are free!
In this difficult time for the Catalan people who defend their right to be free in the streets, we reiterate our commitment and support as we have always done with our sisters from other peoples, also hoping that this process may serve to question the bases of patriarchy and how to build a new system in which women and their struggles are also protagonists.
In feminist sisterhood,
In support of the right to self- determination,
We will keep marching, until all women are free!
