France, Alternative Libertaire AL #251 - non mixted demos:
The night is ours! (fr, it, pt) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
Friday, April 10, single-sex night marches were organized in several cities in France
(Toulouse, Bordeaux and Lyon). Of varied size and shape, they were an opportunity to
recall that the street belongs to women, day and night! ---- In Bordeaux, the non-mixed
event, organized by the Clef (collective struggle of feminists students) was preceded by a
mixed drink, which was attended by about two hundred people. ---- In Toulouse, the
demonstration was also called by a collective-sex student, created during the student
movement last November. But because of some network whose activists of this group have,
and the crackdown on all demonstrations Toulouse since last February, it was only a few
hundred demonstrators who were present that night. Cops and sent CRS-es for the occasion
(yes, a woman was present... CRS) have "authorized" the demo on two boulevards before
taking squeezed the protesters, who have decided to avoid the dispersion arrest.
Diversity of participants
Since last February Toulouse all demonstrations except big trade fairs are ultra framed,
so no wonder that policeman device, the obvious sexism we can highlight: last year the
Commissioner had encouraged us to go "do it again world in our usual drinking places ",
this year the chief of operations, seeing that the protesters were not willing to leave,
kindly fill the place left them" up to 21 hours. " By cons being paternalistic does not
prevent hitting because when the protest was postponed to adjacent boulevards, those who
faced the cops took some batons.
In Lyon, about five hundred chicks, lesbians and trans, "proud and good venerate" who
begin to sing and set off to walk the streets of Lyon. With pleasure, we discover many
unknown heads, people who are not yet militant environment that had come to pass.
This diversity of participants is due in large part to the efforts of collage and towing
upstream of the demo. Several posters with different visual has been made for the occasion
and hit a varied public. several banners punctuated the procession. The head is the
internationalist banner "neither eastern nor western, women's struggle is international",
followed by that against rape and that in the memory of Comrade Ôzgecan Aslan (Alevi young
woman raped and murdered in Turkey for its Origins by Turkish fascists).
Collective self-defense
Some slogans work better than others: the more political as those on the rights of trans
or Islamophobia was a little taken back. The cops are present but relatively well kept at
bay, if necessary we make a little bit of "free major and vaccinated, no need to be
escorted" that works pretty well.
Several altercations take place during the demo, men clearly displaying a virile behavior
trying to get strength in the procession, are then pushed together. Some begin to throw
beer bottles on the demo. Quickly cops interpose, and to disperse the demonstration, the
first gazent plenty vigilante line that had formed. This police action caused damage but
excellent collective reaction occurs: the injured are out and treated. A beautiful
demonstration of collective self-defense therefore with a double line formed very quickly
and a unit of the procession which was good to see. Gender harassment street is a subject
that is beginning to be discussed a little beyond feminist circles, among others since the
creation of groups like Stop Street Harassment (in Paris). But when they are publicized
these initiatives can be manipulated to safe and racist purposes (it takes more
surveillance cameras, stalkers are guys from the suburbs need civilizing). In addition
women are often portrayed as victims, unable to defend themselves, and injunctions against
men to be "polite" and "respectful" remain the order of moral and do not question the
inequalities of use of the public space. For us to inject a bit of feminism in the
discussions, highlighting the self-defense practices and especially the fact that
regardless of their dress, their attitudes and their degree of alcohol, women have all the
room in the streets, bars and public transport!
Myriam (AL Lyon) and Auréline (AL Toulouse)
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Manifs-non-mixtes-La-nuit-est-a
