As a result of the 3rd National Meeting of the World March of Women 'Nalu Faria', which happened between Saturday (6) and Tuesday (9) in Natal, the capital city of Rio Grande do Norte, feminists published a statement highlighting the importance of feminism as a daily construction and the diversity of the movement.
"We are organized in a popular feminism that is strong because it is built daily with a political agenda that organizes and drives us, a feminism in which we all fit," the document quotes, listing the diversity of women in the movement, which includes rural and urban workers, Black women, lesbians and bisexuals, young people, trans people, Quilombolas, Indigenous people, trade unionists, the elderly and people with disabilities.
The movement also highlights the importance of feminism in resisting fascism and building socialism, emphasizing the confrontation of so-called Bolsonarism and electing Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as president in the 2022 elections. "We are convinced that the organized feminist force is capable of imposing defeats on the far right, such as the recent mobilizations that stopped Bill 1904," referring to a bill that would equate abortion to homicide. Thousands of women took to the streets across the country against the proposal.
The document also emphasizes the struggle for more female representation in institutional politics and influence on immediate policies, including the National Care Policy and breaking down the sexual and racial division of labor. "We want to change the world by changing women's lives. Our strategy for this is self-organization in every place where we live, work and act," the document says.
In this sense, they mention the fight against pesticides and the pharmaceutical industry, for land and towards a feminist economy and agrarian reform. “Women build concrete alternatives in these territories, with their knowledge, free technologies and communicational approach,” says the text. “Community gardens, collective laundries, solidarity economy and agroecology are sewing other forms of relationship between people and nature."
Over a thousand feminists from 24 Brazilian states attended the event whose motto was “Overthrow the current system with strength and defiance, unite women not forgetting to be bold: to dream and fight like Nalu Faria.” The late feminist militant coordinated the march and had a crucial role in the struggle for women’s rights in Brazil.
The march in Natal was organized in partnership with other movements, such as the Landless Rural Workers’ Movement (MST, in Portuguese), the Central Workers' Union (CUT, in Portuguese), the National Confederation of Agricultural Workers (CONTAG, in Portuguese) and the Center of Popular Movements (CMP, in Portuguese).
"As a popular movement, we have taken on the challenge of setting foot in every municipality, village, community and settlement and organizing a massive women's movement so that feminism is a place of care, affection and, above all, struggle," the text stresses, concluding that women will continue to march until freedom for all is achieved.
