November 25, 2024: Defend autonomy over our lives, bodies, and sexualities to end violence against women!
On this International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, we, as the World March of Women, raise our voices and demand an end to all forms of violence against women. We call for a world where women have full autonomy over their lives, bodies, and sexualities – a world where violence, exploitation, discrimination and patriarchal control over people’s lives are abolished.
The roots of violence against women lie deep within these intertwined systems of oppression. It is impossible to end violence against women without addressing and dismantling the structures that uphold patriarchal, capitalist, and colonialist violence. We must confront the mechanisms of control imposed on our lives, bodies, labor, lands, resources and oceans, as they are used to expand dominance and exploitation.
Violence against women cannot be eradicated within the violent framework of capitalism. As capitalist crises deepen, authoritarianism is being strengthened, acting as a method of social control that intensifies oppression and violence against women. Women face intensified surveillance, policing, and restrictions on autonomy, especially over their reproductive rights, freedoms of expression, and right to participate in political and economic life and in peace negotiations. When states tighten control over women’s bodies and restrict their rights, they not only undermine gender equality but also weaponize women’s bodies to maintain power. This fuels the epidemic of femicide, criminalizes survivors of abuse, and pushes back against hard-won protections against gender-based violence.
As the capitalist system falters under its own crises—fueling poverty, job insecurity, and ecological collapse—authoritarian governments bolster their rule by attacking feminist movements, criminalizing LGBTQ+ identities, and stifling demands for social and gender equality.
Similarly, violence against women cannot be ended without standing against the genocidal face of capitalism and neoliberalism which has been relentlessly murdering and torturing the Palestinian people for the past year, not to mention the Palestinian women who are subjected to sexual violence, forced displacement, torture and inhuman and degrading treatment, especially those held in Israeli jails. That’s why, we affirm that without standing with solidarity against what happened and is still happening in Lebanon, Syria, Kurdistan, Afghanistan, Sudan, Mali, and Kanak without standing against the forced migration of millions of people due to poverty, wars and natural disasters resulting from the climate crisis, we cannot end the systemic violence against women.
Territories across MENA, Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas are militarized to serve the economic interests of global elites and transnational corporations. Where militarization occurs, violence against women rises; where transnational powers expand, human trafficking and sexual exploitation increase. That’s why, on this day of international action against violence against women, we send our message of solidarity to the people in resistance to defend their democracies and popular governments.
As war spreads, so does violence against women. That’s why, on this day, once again, we are announcing that we stand by the just struggle of the Palestinian people and that the occupying Israeli forces must immediately establish a ceasefire, put an end to the war, and recognize the autonomy of the Palestinian people.
Violence against women is structural and systemic; it cannot be eradicated within the confines of a violent system. We continue to reject any notion of “humane capitalism.” We know that the sustainability of life cannot coexist with a system that commodifies, exploits, and degrades women.
We will continue to resist, organize, and fight for change, knowing that in doing so, we transform not only women’s lives but the whole world . Our struggle is for the freedom, safety, and autonomy of all women. Our vision is for a different world, where we reclaim control over our bodies, labor, and lands. We will continue to march against wars and capitalism, for the sovereignty of people and for buen vivir, ensuring that no one is left behind. Ni una menos!
We March Against Wars and Capitalism,
We Defend the Sovereignty of Peoples and Buen Vivir!