The crises are rooted in the system – feminist strikes worldwide!
From the evacuation of a geriatric home in Augsburg to the closure of the obstetrics clinic in Bobingen – the crisis in the health system is real. Conflicts in the already sparse accommodation for refugees are coming to a head, and not just because of the war against Ukraine. Meanwhile, the energy crisis is hitting Augsburg’s low-income earners the hardest, especially single parents. We know: The crises are rooted in the system! We know: Capitalism and patriarchy are responsible for it! We do not want to accept this! We are on strike!
Come to the International Feminist Strike on 8th of March!
5 p.m. | Rally & Demonstration | Rathausplatz Augsburg
Who lives in geriatric and nursing homes with often inhumane conditions? 61.6 percent are women. Who works in the care sector with intolerable working conditions? Slightly more than three-fourth of paid care workers are women. Who belongs to those who live at the subsistence level? 17.5 percent of German women were affected by income poverty in 2021, in contrast to 15.7 percent of men. Among those in marginal employment, the proportion of women is also greater than that of men. And in old age, the so-called “interrupted employment biographies” of women take their revenge: 20 percent of single women over 65 are considered poor and this is due to more frequent part-time employment and loss of earnings due to responsibilities of children and relatives.
We speak of women because the data only covers women. Yet it is clear that other people not perceived as male – FLINTAs – are also the disadvantaged in this system. FLINTAs means women, lesbian, inter, non-binary, trans, agender persons and anyone who does not fit into the binary logic of the cis-male dominated world. This includes Black people, people from the BIPoc community. Also people who cannot or do not want to submit to the logic of exploitation of the capitalist world. Most affected are those who belong to more than one of the above categories. BIPoc stands for Black, indigenous people of colour, people who are read as non-white.
We say no to this male-dominated system!
All over the world, FLINTAs are rebelling against the oppression of patriarchal and capitalist systems: against the wars that the rulers are fighting on the backs of the people; against the climate catastrophe that is still denied or ignored by too many decision-makers; against right-wing forces that are gaining more and more power with their backward-looking ideologies.
The slogan “Jin Jiyan Azadi” (Women Life Freedom) of the revolutionary Kurdish movement is currently echoing throughout the world through the women-led revolution in Iran: from Latin America to Rojava (North-East Syria) and Tehran to Europe! As a loud sign against the restriction and denial of human rights. Together we fight the feminist struggles for a society where a good life is possible for all. Together we also fight against gender injustice, for sexual and bodily self-determination and for “a world where many worlds fit”? – as the Zaptista movement puts it.
We, the Feminist Strike Committee Augsburg, stand in solidarity with the feminist struggles worldwide and with those on our doorstep. The crises are rooted in the systems! They are home-made and we have it in our hands to end these injustices!
We demand:
- Paid care work, because system-relevant activities such as child care, caring for relatives, friends, but also self care must not become an overload or an existential disadvantage.
- No profits with health & care! The problems in the health sector are not least caused by the privatisation of health institutions, which have to make money with care work and put profits above the well-being of the patients.
- Protection from violence & safe shelter in case of danger. The places in the women’s shelters in the district are nowhere near the legal requirements. FLINTAs in refugee accommodation need special protection services. There is also a lack of shelters and counselling centres for queer and trans people.
- Right to stay for everyone, because no person is illegal. Reasons for fleeing must not be allowed to determine the right to stay and the value of a person. Especially as many people will lose their livelihoods due to climate change, which will drastically increase so-called economic flight movements.
- Safe medical care for pregnant women, women giving birth & people who decide to have an abortion. Staff shortages and clinic closures endanger this human right in the region as well as throughout Germany!
- Time & opportunity for political participation! Overwork due to wage or care work, language barriers or the feeling of political powerlessness must not prevent people from active participation.
- Political support for politically persecuted activists, FLINTA & LGBTQIA+ people in Iran, Afghanistan, Kurdistan, Rojava beyond expressions of solidarity.