Women for Equality in Healthcare and the Church Heat Up the Claims of March 8th

On the eve of March 8th, International Women's Day, two very different gatherings took place to set the stage for the main event, a demonstration scheduled for 12 noon this Sunday. It will start from Plaza de la Merced and will cover the entire downtown area of the capital. The first took place in Plaza Félix Sáenz, gathered a couple of dozen women, and featured a 'performance' to defend public healthcare, where two nurses were forced to deal with the president of the Junta, Juanma Moreno Bonilla. "We demand the defense of public healthcare, with adequate funding and consideration for women. The tip of the iceberg has been the screening crisis in Andalusia, which has shaken the lives of many women, but it's not just that, there are female diseases that are being neglected, like endometriosis," denounced María José Prados, from Comisiones Obreras, who participated in the protest.

In this regard, Ana Ferrer, representative of women suffering from endometriosis, stated: "We were already the ugly duckling of the dance. We have been precisely because we are very unknown, even though it is a very prevalent disease that affects at least 470,000 women in Andalusia. In 2018, we finally got two units in Andalusia, the first two reference units in Spain for severe grades causing disability and incapacity. And we found that the one in Seville has not started and the one in Malaga, which has borne the whole weight of Andalusia, is in a continuous dismantling process and dilutes us in the gynecology list."

"Health is a right and women also lack equality in this regard. With the breast cancer screening case, it has been shown that, in general, public health in Andalusia is very poor. But specifically for women, it is even worse," declared Andrea Barbotta, one of the feminist organizers of the gathering, who recalled that this year's 8M motto is "for peace and women's health." Saray Pineda, another organizer, added: "Facing the direct and conscious dismantling that the Andalusian government is doing of public healthcare, we are the most affected. That's why we understood that although tomorrow we will take to the streets to claim all the inequalities and violence, today we wanted to emphasize the need for improvement of public healthcare and specifically women's health rights. They prefer to attribute every pathology to stress, anxiety, a nervous breakdown, or any mental illness before diagnosing a woman properly."

For equality in the church

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The second mobilization took place in Plaza del Obispo, in front of the cathedral, and was led by Christian women demanding equality in the Catholic Church. They are people from the diocese of Malaga who joined the Women's Revolt four years ago, which had already begun to organize in other parts of Spain and this March 7th have called for protests in a number of cities, including the capital of Malaga. "We want equality in the church and for it not to be conditioned by the sexism and patriarchy that permeate it. Jesus' relationship was egalitarian, although the narrative has relegated women over time. Throughout the history of the church, we have been silenced. By the fourth century, we disappeared from the map," explains Rosa María Pinto, who acts as a spokesperson for the collective, although she clarifies: "We are very horizontal in our organization."

Pinto continues with a list of demands: "Feminist theology is not considered, women are outside the spheres of power and decision-making in the church, even though we are the ones who support it with catechesis, charity, and liturgy. The church has a female face, but we are not recognized." One of their goals is to be ordained as priests? "We want to be recognized in our vocation." Are they feminists? "Yes, we are feminists, seeking equality in the church," concludes the woman.

Pinto revealed that the new bishop of Malaga, José Antonio Satué, has already met with them: "We see him as aware of the reality of the times."