Women’s struggles against patriarchal violence

Abstract

Struggles to end violence against women were at the core of activity of Latin American feminist movements in the 1970s and 1980s. In the rapidly transforming cities facing the process of hyper-urbanisation, the problem of street harassment, sexual abuse, and other forms of violence against women in public spaces escalated. Increasing social segregation and isolation, enhanced by new spatial planning and architectural typologies, adversely affected safety. In those enormous cities, women found opportunities to denounce the shared experience of violence through new forms of protest, organised and united. Since 1981, feminists from Latin America were building solidarity in the struggles to end violence against women at the regular meetings, Encuentros. One of the most relevant outcomes of those meetings was the novel idea of establishing the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in 1981, which was later recognized by countries around the world. Demonstrations on the 25th of November, which followed that event, united masses of people in public protests. Through these and other demonstrations, women continued to gradually appropriate public space - following the way which was earlier marked by a movement from the 1970s, Las Madres. With the evolution of their presence in the city, feminists were able to reach out to the public. The multifaceted activism of women in the cities through protests, gatherings, performances, and press publications was significant for influencing the legislation and the social mentality.

This research traces from a historical perspective how women denounced violence and fought for their safety in the Latin American cities in the 1970s and 1980s. It recognizes how women discussed, condemned, and opposed patriarchal violence, looking at the feminist press articles and illustrations, photographs and audio-visual materials from the strikes and gatherings, interviews with the protagonists of the demonstrations, as well as previous research on the history of Latin American feminist movements and their fight for the right to the city. The study tackles the question of the role of the urban context in those struggles. Which were the threads of hyper-urbanisation and how did they affect women? What role has the appropriation of public space played for the feminist movements in creating new forms of protest, gaining exposure, and establishing social significance? My claim is that the new reality of rapidly transforming cities had a significant and complex influence on the struggles to end violence against women. On one hand, the patriarchal modes of hyper-urbanisation exacerbated the problem, while on the other, cities created the opportunity to act on a larger scale, in an organised way and made women’s struggles to end violence visible to the public.

Latin American feminist movements of the 1970s and 1980s shifted global understanding of violence against women and girls. They mobilized a strong and diverse network that was pioneering in the large-scale, international mobilization in the fight for human rights. Through multi-form activism against patriarchal violence, they not only inspired changes locally but also influenced women in other parts of the world.