Paula Rodríguez interviewed the original 20 organizers of the #NiUnaMenos protest movement in Argentina to reconstruct how it started as an informal Twitter conversation and grew into a mass initiative in just three weeks. She also spoke to supporters and families of victims of gender violence. Rodríguez found that the judiciary's approach to domestic violence cases needs reform, as simply reporting abuse to police is insufficient and dangerous given the many social factors that victims face. While #NiUnaMenos does not belong to any specific group, different organizations behind it have made varying demands at local levels regarding issues like abortion rights. However, many mistakenly see the movement as exclusively involving women despite male support and organizers.
Original Description:
ni una menos BsAs
Original Title
BsAsHerald-hushtagNiUnaMenos-edited for Written Assessment
Paula Rodríguez interviewed the original 20 organizers of the #NiUnaMenos protest movement in Argentina to reconstruct how it started as an informal Twitter conversation and grew into a mass initiative in just three weeks. She also spoke to supporters and families of victims of gender violence. Rodríguez found that the judiciary's approach to domestic violence cases needs reform, as simply reporting abuse to police is insufficient and dangerous given the many social factors that victims face. While #NiUnaMenos does not belong to any specific group, different organizations behind it have made varying demands at local levels regarding issues like abortion rights. However, many mistakenly see the movement as exclusively involving women despite male support and organizers.
Paula Rodríguez interviewed the original 20 organizers of the #NiUnaMenos protest movement in Argentina to reconstruct how it started as an informal Twitter conversation and grew into a mass initiative in just three weeks. She also spoke to supporters and families of victims of gender violence. Rodríguez found that the judiciary's approach to domestic violence cases needs reform, as simply reporting abuse to police is insufficient and dangerous given the many social factors that victims face. While #NiUnaMenos does not belong to any specific group, different organizations behind it have made varying demands at local levels regarding issues like abortion rights. However, many mistakenly see the movement as exclusively involving women despite male support and organizers.
Rodríguez. Written feverishly in only eight weeks and released just a few months after 2015’s groundbreaking #NiUnaMenos protest, journalist Paula Rodríguez reconstructed in her book the ins and outs of that historic event, meeting the organizers, supporters and the families of victims of gender violence. How did you first approach such a complex issue as #NiUnaMenos, and how did you choose your interviewees for the book, taking into account the fact that it involved so many sectors of society? As it’s a book of testimonials and all the interviewees speak for themselves, I chose to go in concentric circles. The first circle was the smallest one — I interviewed the 20 original organizers of the #NiUnaMenos protest. My aim was to reconstruct, minute by minute, how an informal conversation on Twitter became such a mass initiative. I also wanted to understand how individuals so different joined together in only three weeks to become politically involved. Has the judiciary’s approach to domestic violence cases changed in some way? There is a big misunderstanding regarding gender violence. These problems are not solved only by reporting them to the police or by a punitive response from the judicial system. Around the victims of male violence there are many factors to take into account, such as where these women live, how they feed their kids, where they live, if they have a job, if they receive some sort of psychological assistance. Saying, “Go to the police and report what happened to you,” is simplistic, as well as dangerous, as many experts told me during my research. In such a mass movement there have been different demands from the different organizations behind #NiUnaMenos. How did you assess that? What happens with #NiUnaMenos is that it does not belong to any specific group. There is no such thing. Maybe today there is a group in Río Grande (Tierra del Fuego) calling for a protest. And the group calls itself “NiUnaMenos Río Grande.” Last year there was a basic agreement that was not abstract at all. There were specific requests in the statement that was read during the protest outside the National Congress. But then, every city or small town or even every organization has claims for different reasons and they organize different activities such as lectures and workshops. Last year, for example, the organizers of the Rosario march called for abortion rights in their statement. And in Buenos Aires they did not specifically mention that. Why, for many people, is the #NiUnaMenos demonstration something that involves women exclusively? Yes, for many people #NiUnaMenos is only a women’s thing. Of course most of the organizers are women, but there are also men involved and offering their support. There is also this misogynistic idea that as there are many women behind (the organization of the movement), there will be rows and arguments. When I listen to that I think “See what happens, for example with the Argentine Football Association (AFA) these days” and then tell me how you can hold such a point of view and say there are problems when only women are involved.