Original Bahasa Indonesia statement here.
Anti Feminist Feminist Club (AFFC) Call for International Women’s Day 2023.
From year to year, from one action to another, and on the paved roads, we encounter the same solid walls that we want to destroy: authoritarianism, capitalism, and patriarchy. How much strength do we have left amid low wages, hunger, environmental degradation, and an increasingly militarized regime? Where is our struggle going? Are we willing to leave our fate in the hands of the representatives—political parties—or are we willing to start building power with our own hands?
On International Women’s Day 2023, we, the AFFC collective, tirelessly call for more direct and tangible forms of action. What we propose is a program that we can run together in the principles of autonomy and solidarity: creating and expanding safe spaces for women, children, persons with disabilities and gender minorities; development of non-commercial counseling support network; a network of reproductive health workers who are non-judgmental and respect everyone’s choices; access to safe abortion; sexual and gender diversity education for youth; support groups for survivors of violence; strengthening cross-sectoral trade unions and building student unions.
To run this program more effectively and widely, we call for the formation of grassroots women’s and minority gender organization, union, or association.
We must revive the organizational culture from below, one that is democratic, autonomous, vibrant, and combative.
This organization might be similar to the women’s organizations or women’s unions formed in Indonesia after independence—this time without the interference of political parties!
This organization would serve as a forum for us to cultivate self-management—to practice making decisions equally, to build the capacities of women and gender minorities, to build new socio-cultural characters that are more independent, active and empowered, and to create a wider coordination network in responding to various issues concerning the dignity of women and gender minorities from the working class in Indonesia.
This union must have the ability to keep its distance from the temptations of parliamentary politics. We must avoid scenarios of political parties that only turn the masses into passive constituents and ballot box contributors; who spend our attention, energy and resources on electoral campaigns and symbolic actions that do nothing to benefit women and minority genders at the grassroots level.
We don’t need more women politicians. What we need are more souls who are committed to caring for and regenerating the fighting spirit from day-to-day; we need solidarity of workers from all sectors—teachers and education personnel, doctors and health workers, casual workers, rural workers, etc.—we need students, the unemployed, and the marginalized who are willing to reclaim their lives and build a movement for liberation from below.
A true women’s liberation movement can only start from the grassroots.
It starts from our beating hearts, right now, this second, not from conferences and board meeting tables, movement senior big talk, or banquets and women’s elite narcissistic stages.
Long live anarchy!
Long live equality and freedom!
—Anti Feminist Feminist Club
08 March, 2023
International Women’s day