Between October 17th and 19th, the World March of Women Brazil held simultaneous regional activities to close its 6th International Action in the states of Rio Grande do Norte (RN), São Paulo (SP), and Santa Catarina (SC). Regional activities were organized around the subjects of feminist economy, combating violence, demilitarization, and defending common goods.

Rio Grande do Norte

In the city of Mossoró, more than a thousand women, activists from the states of Rio Grande do Norte, Alagoas, Paraíba, Pernambuco, and Ceará marched on Avenida Presidente Dutra in a large demonstration denouncing capitalist exploitation, wars, and the impacts of the installation of large “clean” energy complexes in the region. The intense closing program began on Thursday night (16), with the State Meeting of Batucada Feminista, bringing together women from all over RN for a rehearsal and to strengthen resistance.

The focal point of political coordination was the seminar “From the Sea to the Hinterland: Women’s Resistance Against Transnational Corporations in Defense of Life and Territory,” held at the Federal Rural University of the Semi-Arid Region (UFERSA). Leaders from Alagoas, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Ceará, and Rio Grande do Norte detailed how the implementation of these projects, without dialogue with the communities, deepens environmental racism and threatens the sovereignty of the peoples. In contrast, the women presented real grassroots alternatives and climate plans, such as productive backyards, biome management, community solar panels.

The meeting denounced how the narrative of “clean energy” has served as a “new guise for capitalist exploitation” in the Northeast. The women marched in defense of the sovereignty of peoples and for an end to wars, echoing the defense of a free Palestine. The mobilization ended with a large political-cultural event, reaffirming the commitment of the women of the World March to fight for Good Living and for a world free of oppression, violence, and inequality. The final message was clear: “We will continue marching until we are all free!”

São Paulo

On October 17th and 18th, downtown São Paulo was taken over by the “Ocupa Feminista” festival, organized by WMW São Paulo. The event brought together more than 600 women from the capital, cities in the ABCDRR region, Osasco, Guarulhos, Campinas, Registro, São Carlos, Botucatu, Peruíbe, and nearby states where the WMW is also organized, such as Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, and Rio de Janeiro. Most of the activities took place at the São Paulo City Council, but also at the Museum of Diversity, in an occupation by the Housing Struggle Front (FLM, in Portuguese), and in two bookstores in the region.

The festival began with a street demonstration in defense of the Palestinian people and an agroecological feast. The women invited people who live in or pass through the city center to interact with the festival, sharing solidarity and healthy food produced without pesticides. An olive tree seedling was planted, symbolizing the struggle for a free and sovereign Palestine.

The festival program was built around the theme “end violence against women, for autonomy over our bodies and sexuality,” and included debates, and roundtable discussions on sexist violence, femicide, LBT (lesbian, bisexual, and trans) women, sexual and reproductive rights, an agroecological feast, a solidarity economy fair, and cultural activities such as musical and theatrical performances, artistic interventions, film debates, planting and handicraft workshops, and a photography exhibition.

Ocupa Feminista ended with a loud cry for the legalization of abortion and for a free Palestine, bringing all participants together in the courtyard of the City Council. A banner calling for the legalization of abortion was hung on the Viaduto do Chá, leaving a message from feminists to the São Paulo City Council, demanding the reopening of legal abortion services: “legalize abortion, right to our bodies” was the cry that echoed at the closing of the 6th Action of the World March of Women in São Paulo.

Santa Catarina

In the state of Santa Catarina, activists began their closing activities on Saturday (18th) and Sunday (19th). Women from Santa Catarina, state of Paraná, and Rio Grande do Sul gathered in the cities of Florianópolis and Palhoça to occupy the streets, networks, and fields. With feminist batucada, we raised our voices to reaffirm women’s struggle against militarization in schools and to ensure safe and violence-free spaces for our children and youth, as well as in Indigenous villages, slums, traditional communities, settlements, and rural communities.

After the street demonstration, the action continued to the Marighella Occupation in the Araiú neighborhood of Palhoça, a space of resistance and struggle for territory. We were warmly welcomed by the women of the Occupation to hear their stories of struggle and organization (with a collective kitchen and shared childcare spaces), and we ended the moment by planting an olive tree. Together, we raised a loud cry: FREE PALESTINE FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA!

Next, the women visited the Pró-CREP cooperative, also in Palhoça, where they learned about the solidarity economy that embodies the principles of feminist economiy and reinforces the importance of recycling, waste collection and sorting, environmental education, collective vegetable gardens, craft shops, the reuse of textile materials, thrift stores, and other used items, where what is discarded by some is a luxury for others. Finally, the marchers went to Aldeia Pira Rupá, in the Maciambu Indigenous territory of the Guarani Mbyá ethnic group, for a roundtable discussion and training session with Indigenous women from the community, where they were welcomed with food and much affection. On Sunday, a training activity featured a performance by the Indigenous choir and a conversation about the importance of the alliance between the feminist struggle and the struggles of Indigenous women and women fighting for land, such as Palestinian women. The olive tree was planted in an area where women are building an orchard and vegetable garden with a focus on food sovereignty. A beautiful planting, reinforcing feminist commitment and solidarity here in Brazil and around the world!