Esquerra Republicana and Jovent Republicà’s International Women’s Day Manifesto

Once again, on 8 March 2023, we celebrate International Women’s Day, a tribute to the movements in favour of women’s rights, to continue calling attention to the inequalities that women suffer. The call goes beyond this one day and permeates all 365 days of the year and each and every one of us who makes up our society.

Esquerra Republicana and our youth wing Jovent Republicà work day in and day out to ensure that women’s rights are fully effective and are not defiled under any circumstances. We understand this fight for women’s rights as a fight for human rights, and from an intersectional perspective, acutely aware that we are all constituted and influenced by an infinite number of variables of inequality and social categorization that traverse our lives, our bodies and our experiences.

Historically and systematically, the feminized workplaces are the least recognized, both socially and economically. It is clear that since the beginning of the pandemic, the situations of vulnerability that women suffer from have been aggravated. In addition, according to the latest report by the Catalan Generalitat Government, the gender pay gap stands at 19.7% in Catalonia, while in Valencia, the Balearic Isles and in North Catalonia, the gap stands at 20.1%, 14.4% and 13%, respectively. That means that women earn on average between €3,000 and €7,000 less than men every year. They have lower wages at all educational levels, and only 10% of women reach management and executive positions while they suffer greater job insecurity resulting in the feminization of poverty and a threat to their economic and personal independence. For us, this is a fundamental issue to which we must address our political action.

Esquerra Republicana and Jovent Republicà work to foster joint responsibility among women and men, as well as within the different public administrations. We defend that time and work be distributed with gender parity and that there is true co-responsibility by women and men in the tasks associated with reproductive work. The Ministry of Equality and Feminism is bringing forth policies to reconcile work, personal and family life to ensure that women have the right to enjoy their leisure time and participate on equal terms with men. In addition, we will continue to work to implement more rational timetables in our country, allowing us to cover social and personal needs and to consolidate the time factor as a right that guarantees freedom, equity and welfare.

We must continue to claim the right for women to decide over their own bodies and the right to free and safe motherhood. We support all in the free exercise of their rights and advocate for the decriminalization of abortions worldwide and for these to be free, legal and safe.

We will continue to denounce and fight the violence women suffer. That means sexist violences—in plural—because sexual violence, economic violence, symbolic violence, institutional violence, vicarious violence and all those discriminatory situations suffered by women simply because they are women, are also sexist violences.

We have embodied Esquerra Republicana and Jovent Republicà’s commitment to gender equality in an Internal Equality Plan that helps us to continue working for the full political participation of women. We are also leading the feminist transformation from Government, and in addition, we have taken on the commitment to establish vertical parity for the municipal elections throughout the territory. That is what we did in 2019 in almost all municipalities with over 3,000 inhabitants where we presented candidacies. The challenge for 2023 is to do so in those with 1,000 inhabitants in the next municipal elections. This means and must continue to mean further steps in improving the presence of women in Catalan institutions at all levels. Because equality is not only to be preached but also practised, with commitment, ambition and responsibility.

We call for mobilization in favour of women’s rights, today and every day of the year, to continue contributing to a fairer, more equal society making the Catalan Republic we long for a Feminist Republic of free women and men.

All women with all rights!