- Feminists have emerged "reinforced" and "entangled" from the November 30 General Strike. Jone Gil Landaburu, a member of the Feminist Movement of the Basque Country, stressed that thanks to this, the feminist movement has focused on the issue of care. In addition, it accuses the institutions and governments of not taking responsibility: "They do not want to hear the voices of the citizens who occupied the streets during the general strike for public and community custody".
What day do you expect it to be?
We would like the struggle to be a massive day. We have come to these demonstrations since the first General Feminist Strike. We managed to make history in the General Strike, focusing on the issue of care, directly interpelling the institutions and assuming the demands of the majority of society. Today we have the same goal. We will go back to the streets to denounce the situation that women live in and take the necessary measures. Our strength is above institutional hypocrisy and attempts at discursive appropriation.
Was the General Strike a space for reflection?
The Feminist Movement has put the issue of care on the streets and on the political agenda of society. Reflecting on care is a political achievement and not a little. What we do not appreciate is that we have not received a response to the talks we have asked the government for.
They stress that 8 March is not a day of celebration, but a day of struggle and denunciation. Do you fear that people will take it as a celebration?
Yes. We know that the days that are so fixed on the agenda have that risk. In addition, institutions depoliticize these kinds of days and demands. Our goal is always to fulfill the streets and to bring solid demands to the streets.
They once again demand care. What are the consequences of the current surveillance system?
We claim not to negotiate with care and with our lives, and we want to expose and denounce the consequences of that. We are women who guarantee special care, both in terms of pay and free of charge. We suffer the oppression and lack of involvement of men, institutions and employers. Every day we face a system that exploits our workforce. This system condemns us to suffer from precariousness and continuous oppression. The surveillance system must be public and community, which faces the privatizing and precarious model of the government.
"We face a system that exploits our workforce on a daily basis"
They also criticise the monitoring pact in the CAPV. Why?
For us, it is a huge hypocrisy and irresponsibility that the government is doing with the pact. They do not want to hear the voices of the citizens who served the streets in the General Strike for public and community custody. The demands of the Feminist Movement are being taken, emptied of content and privatization and precariousness are being fostered.
Does the Aliens Act need to be addressed to work in custody?
It is clear that care is undeclared work in the worst conditions and that it mainly affects immigrant and racialized women. We live in a familiar system, based on a heteronormatized family. When the woman in the household cannot take care of her care, an external woman is hired, usually immigrant or racist women. It is a clear example of the racist system, and in order to combat it we have to address the Aliens Act.
In Ipar Euskal Herria you have emphasized feminist self-defense and penetration. Why?
Because the realities are very different. The Feminist Movement of the Northern Basque Country is less tangled and stabilized. Therefore, the problem of care has not followed the same path. They're going more to apologize for feminist self-defense and articulate and entangle a strong organization and movement. In addition to surveillance, this empowerment and penetration is very important.