Spanish Women Stage First Feminist Strike

Women in Spain have staged the country’s first feminist strike today, on International Women’s Day. They took to the streets to demand greater gender equality and to defend women’s rights.
Women all across Spain have participated in the nationwide feminist strike to protest against sexual discrimination and on the Spanish government’s treatment of the subject of domestic abuse.
Last year, 49 women were killed by their partners or ex-partners and the number of incidents of domestic violence have been steadily on the rise.
Their mobilisation was also powered by their resolve to highlight that gender inequality is still an issue and that the still-existing gender pay gap should be bridged.
Women all across the country left whatever they were doing, whether it was work or domestic tasks, to show that without them the world would really come to a stop, to prove that the work that they do is equally as important as what men do and they should, therefore, be paid equally.
Both the mayor of Madrid and Barcelona have shown their support for the strike.
“On 8 March my agenda is a women’s agenda. The feminist strike has my full support,” tweeted Manuela Carmena, mayor of Madrid.
Ada Colau, her Barcelona counterpart, said she would be joining the women of Barcelona to show the world “that without women the world really does stop”.
“Today we call for a society free of sexist oppression, exploitation and violence,” the 8 March Commission, coordinators of the strike, says in its manifesto.
“We call for rebellion and a struggle against the alliance of the patriarchy and capitalism that wants us to be obedient, submissive and quiet. We do not accept worse working conditions, nor being paid less than men for the same work. That is why we are calling a work strike.”
> Naomi Round