abolitionmedia<p><strong>8M: Our Commitment to Depatriarchalization</strong></p><p></p> <span><span class="">As</span> <span class="">announced</span> <span class="">by</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">Central</span> <span class="">Command</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">March</span> 10 <span class="">Insurrection</span> <span class="">Magazine</span>, <span class="">the</span> <span class="">VI</span> <span class="">National</span> <span class="">Congress</span> <span class="">defined</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">ELN’s</span> <span class="">anti</span>–<span class="">patriarchal</span> <span class="">character</span>, <span class="">in</span> <span class="">articulation</span> <span class="">with</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">anti</span>–<span class="">capitalist</span>, <span class="">anti</span>–<span class="">imperialist</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">anti</span>–<span class="">colonialist</span> <span class="">struggles</span>.</span> <span><span class="">This</span> <span class="">is</span> <span class="">not</span> <span class="">a</span> <span class="">minor</span> <span class="">or</span> <span class="">incidental</span> <span class="">definition</span>, <span class="">but</span> <span class="">it</span> <span class="">is</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">result</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">deep</span> <span class="">reflections</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">debates</span> <span class="">led</span> <span class="">with</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">life</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">revolutionary</span> <span class="">example</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">great</span> <span class="">guerrilla</span> <span class="">women</span>, <span class="">who</span> <span class="">gave</span> <span class="">their</span> <span class="">lives</span> <span class="">to</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">cause</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">national</span> <span class="">liberation</span>; <span class="">and</span> <span class="">who</span>, <span class="">with</span> <span class="">their</span> <span class="">example</span>, <span class="">today</span> <span class="">lead</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">ELN</span> <span class="">to</span> <span class="">build</span> <span class="">an</span> <span class="">anti</span>–<span class="">patriarchal</span> <span class="">policy</span> <span class="">as</span> <span class="">a</span> <span class="">revolutionary</span> <span class="">strategy</span> <span class="">for</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">whole</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">society</span>.</span> <span><span class="">Setting</span> <span class="">an</span> <span class="">example</span></span> <span><span class="">For</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">ELN</span> <span class="">this</span> <span class="">discussion</span> <span class="">is</span> <span class="">fundamental</span>, <span class="">because</span>, <span class="">as</span> <span class="">Alexandra</span> <span class="">Kollontai</span> <span class="">put</span> <span class="">it</span>, <span class="">the</span> <span class="">urgency</span> <span class="">for</span> <span class="">women’s</span> <span class="">liberation</span> <span class="">is</span> <span class="">not</span> <span class="">only</span> <span class="">a</span> <span class="">cultural</span> <span class="">or</span> <span class="">practical</span> <span class="">aspect</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">social</span> <span class="">transformation</span>, <span class="">but</span> <span class="">above</span> <span class="">all</span> <span class="">an</span> <span class="">integral</span> <span class="">part</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">proletarian</span> <span class="">struggle</span> <span class="">for</span> <span class="">liberation</span>. <span class="">It</span> <span class="">runs</span> <span class="">through</span> <span class="">not</span> <span class="">only</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">revolutionary</span> <span class="">program</span> <span class="">for</span> <span class="">Colombia</span>, <span class="">but</span> <span class="">also</span> <span class="">involves</span> <span class="">a</span> <span class="">permanent</span> <span class="">exercise</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">revision</span>, <span class="">debate</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">training</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">all</span> <span class="">our</span> <span class="">guerrilla</span> <span class="">structures</span>, <span class="">in</span> <span class="">every</span> <span class="">fighter</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">command</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">organization</span>. <span class="">We</span> <span class="">recognize</span> <span class="">that</span> <span class="">while</span> <span class="">capitalism</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">patriarchy</span> <span class="">are</span> <span class="">embodied</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">everyday</span> <span class="">social</span> <span class="">discourses</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">practices</span>, <span class="">their</span> <span class="">transformation</span> <span class="">requires</span> <span class="">permanent</span> <span class="">work</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">discipline</span> <span class="">within</span> <span class="">our</span> <span class="">own</span> <span class="">organization</span>.</span> <span><span class="">Our</span> <span class="">commitment</span> <span class="">to</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">liberation</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">Colombian</span> <span class="">women</span> <span class="">has</span> <span class="">been</span> <span class="">expressed</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">important</span> <span class="">participation</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">peasant</span> <span class="">women</span>, <span class="">workers</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">youth</span> <span class="">from</span> <span class="">all</span> <span class="">regions</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">country</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">ELN</span>. <span class="">The</span> <span class="">ELN</span> <span class="">women</span> <span class="">have</span> <span class="">helped</span> <span class="">build</span> <span class="">an</span> <span class="">insurgent</span> <span class="">organization</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">which</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">daily</span> <span class="">tasks</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">political</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">military</span> <span class="">responsibilities</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">our</span> <span class="">guerrilla</span> <span class="">struggle</span> <span class="">are</span> <span class="">distributed</span> <span class="">without</span> <span class="">gender</span> <span class="">distinction</span>. <span class="">Men</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">women</span> <span class="">have</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">same</span> <span class="">obligations</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">rights</span>: <span class="">to</span> <span class="">train</span>, <span class="">to</span> <span class="">work</span>, <span class="">to</span> <span class="">care</span> <span class="">for</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">to</span> <span class="">fight</span>.</span> <span><span class="">Violence</span> <span class="">against</span> <span class="">women</span> <span class="">is</span> <span class="">prohibited</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">not</span> <span class="">tolerated</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">ELN</span>. <span class="">Any</span> <span class="">act</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">physical</span>, <span class="">psychological</span> <span class="">or</span> <span class="">sexual</span> <span class="">violence</span> <span class="">is</span> <span class="">sanctioned</span> <span class="">on</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">basis</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">our</span> <span class="">Statutes</span>, <span class="">applying</span> <span class="">revolutionary</span> <span class="">justice</span> <span class="">which</span> <span class="">provides</span> <span class="">for</span> <span class="">severe</span> <span class="">punishments</span> <span class="">for</span> <span class="">aggressors</span>.</span> <span class=""><span>However</span></span><span>, </span><span class=""><span>our</span></span> <span class=""><span>organization</span></span> <span class=""><span>is</span></span> <span class=""><span>aware</span></span> <span class=""><span>of</span></span> <span class=""><span>the</span></span> <span class=""><span>persistence</span></span> <span class=""><span>of</span></span> <span class=""><span>violence</span></span> <span class=""><span>and</span></span> <span class=""><span>macho</span></span> <span class=""><span>practices</span></span> <span class=""><span>that</span></span> <span class=""><span>we</span></span> <span class=""><span>learn</span></span> <span class=""><span>and</span></span> <span class=""><span>inherit</span></span> <span class=""><span>from</span></span> <span class=""><span>the</span></span> <span class=""><span>patriarchal</span></span> <span class=""><span>system</span></span><span>, </span><span class=""><span>we</span></span> <span class=""><span>are</span></span> <span class=""><span>not</span></span> <span class=""><span>strangers</span></span> <span class=""><span>to</span></span> <span class=""><span>these</span></span><span>. </span><span class=""><span>We</span></span> <span class=""><span>have</span></span> <span class=""><span>great</span></span> <span class=""><span>challenges</span></span> <span class=""><span>to</span></span> <span class=""><span>be</span></span> <span class=""><span>an</span></span> <span class=""><span>anti</span></span><span>–</span><span class=""><span>patriarchal</span></span> <span class=""><span>organization</span></span><span>, </span><span class=""><span>because</span></span> <span class=""><span>we</span></span> <span class=""><span>are</span></span> <span class=""><span>aware</span></span> <span class=""><span>that</span></span> <span class=""><span>the</span></span> <span class=""><span>struggles</span></span> <span class=""><span>and</span></span> <span class=""><span>contributions</span></span> <span class=""><span>we</span></span> <span class=""><span>make</span></span> <span class=""><span>to</span></span> <span class=""><span>eliminate</span></span> <span class=""><span>violence</span></span> <span class=""><span>against</span></span> <span class=""><span>women</span></span> <span class=""><span>in</span></span> <span class=""><span>society</span></span> <span class=""><span>will</span></span> <span class=""><span>be</span></span> <span class=""><span>legitimate</span></span> <span class=""><span>and</span></span> <span class=""><span>meaningful</span></span> <span class=""><span>as</span></span> <span class=""><span>long</span></span> <span class=""><span>as</span></span> <span class=""><span>we</span></span> <span class=""><span>are</span></span> <span class=""><span>witnesses</span></span> <span class=""><span>and</span></span> <span class=""><span>examples</span></span> <span class=""><span>of</span></span> <span class=""><span>it</span></span><span>.</span> <span><span class="">The</span> <span class="">lethal</span> <span class="">duet</span></span> <span><span class="">The</span> <span class="">women</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">ELN</span> <span class="">are</span> <span class="">clear</span> <span class="">about</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">place</span> <span class="">from</span> <span class="">which</span> <span class="">we</span> <span class="">take</span> <span class="">our</span> <span class="">fight</span> <span class="">against</span> <span class="">machismo</span>. <span class="">We</span> <span class="">understand</span> <span class="">that</span> <span class="">capitalism</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">patriarchy</span> <span class="">work</span> <span class="">hand</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">hand</span>, <span class="">to</span> <span class="">steal</span> <span class="">women’s</span> <span class="">work</span> <span class="">associated</span> <span class="">with</span> <span class="">reproduction</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">care</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">life</span>, <span class="">work</span> <span class="">without</span> <span class="">which</span> <span class="">society</span> <span class="">could</span> <span class="">not</span> <span class="">be</span> <span class="">sustained</span>. <span class="">They</span> <span class="">act</span> <span class="">together</span> <span class="">to</span> <span class="">deprive</span> <span class="">communities</span> <span class="">around</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">world</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">goods</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">nature</span>, <span class="">usually</span> <span class="">defended</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">protected</span> <span class="">by</span> <span class="">women</span>. <span class="">They</span> <span class="">work</span> <span class="">together</span> <span class="">to</span> <span class="">prevent</span> <span class="">women’s</span> <span class="">participation</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">politics</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">decision</span>–<span class="">making</span>, <span class="">because</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">global</span> <span class="">bourgeoisie</span>, <span class="">white</span>, <span class="">patriarchal</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">warlord</span>, <span class="">knows</span> <span class="">that</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">active</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">determined</span> <span class="">participation</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">working</span> <span class="">women</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">working</span> <span class="">class</span> <span class="">puts</span> <span class="">at</span> <span class="">risk</span> <span class="">its</span> <span class="">supremacy</span>.</span> <span class=""><span>We</span></span> <span class=""><span>are</span></span> <span class=""><span>part</span></span> <span class=""><span>of</span></span> <span class=""><span>the</span></span> <span class=""><span>ELN</span></span> <span class=""><span>because</span></span> <span class=""><span>we</span></span> <span class=""><span>live</span></span> <span class=""><span>the</span></span> <span class=""><span>lives</span></span> <span class=""><span>of</span></span> <span class=""><span>the</span></span> <span class=""><span>majority</span></span> <span class=""><span>of</span></span> <span class=""><span>the</span></span> <span class=""><span>country’s</span></span> <span class=""><span>women</span></span> <span class=""><span>in</span></span> <span class=""><span>the</span></span> <span class=""><span>countryside</span></span> <span class=""><span>and</span></span> <span class=""><span>the</span></span> <span class=""><span>cities</span></span><span>. </span><span class=""><span>We</span></span> <span class=""><span>are</span></span><span> 51.2 </span><span class=""><span>percent</span></span> <span class=""><span>of</span></span> <span class=""><span>the</span></span> <span class=""><span>national</span></span> <span class=""><span>population</span></span><span>, </span><span class=""><span>but</span></span> <span class=""><span>only</span></span><span> 26 </span><span class=""><span>percent</span></span> <span class=""><span>of</span></span> <span class=""><span>the</span></span> <span class=""><span>land</span></span> <span class=""><span>belongs</span></span> <span class=""><span>to</span></span> <span class=""><span>women</span></span><span>. </span><span class=""><span>More</span></span> <span class=""><span>than</span></span><span> 40 </span><span class=""><span>percent</span></span> <span class=""><span>of</span></span> <span class=""><span>the</span></span> <span class=""><span>poor</span></span> <span class=""><span>in</span></span> <span class=""><span>the</span></span> <span class=""><span>country</span></span> <span class=""><span>are</span></span> <span class=""><span>women</span></span><span>, </span><span class=""><span>so</span></span> <span class=""><span>for</span></span> <span class=""><span>every</span></span><span> 100 </span><span class=""><span>poor</span></span> <span class=""><span>men</span></span> <span class=""><span>in</span></span> <span class=""><span>Colombia</span></span> <span class=""><span>we</span></span> <span class=""><span>are</span></span><span> 121 </span><span class=""><span>poor</span></span> <span class=""><span>women</span></span><span>; </span><span class=""><span>when</span></span> <span class=""><span>in</span></span> <span class=""><span>the</span></span> <span class=""><span>best</span></span> <span class=""><span>case</span></span> <span class=""><span>we</span></span> <span class=""><span>manage</span></span> <span class=""><span>to</span></span> <span class=""><span>insert</span></span> <span class=""><span>ourselves</span></span> <span class=""><span>into</span></span> <span class=""><span>the</span></span> <span class=""><span>labor</span></span> <span class=""><span>market</span></span><span>, </span><span class=""><span>we</span></span> <span class=""><span>do</span></span> <span class=""><span>so</span></span> <span class=""><span>from</span></span> <span class=""><span>precariousness</span></span> <span class=""><span>and</span></span> <span class=""><span>absolute</span></span> <span class=""><span>exploitation</span></span> <span class=""><span>or</span></span> <span class=""><span>facing</span></span> <span class=""><span>huge</span></span> <span class=""><span>wage</span></span> <span class=""><span>gaps</span></span><span>: </span><span class=""><span>in</span></span> <span class=""><span>Colombia</span></span><span>, </span><span class=""><span>for</span></span> <span class=""><span>every</span></span><span> 100 </span><span class=""><span>Pesos</span></span> <span class=""><span>a</span></span> <span class=""><span>man</span></span> <span class=""><span>earns</span></span><span>, </span><span class=""><span>women</span></span> <span class=""><span>earn</span></span> <span class=""><span>only</span></span><span> 60 </span><span class=""><span>Pesos</span></span> <span class=""><span>doing</span></span> <span class=""><span>the</span></span> <span class=""><span>same</span></span> <span class=""><span>work</span></span><span>. </span><span class=""><span>Poverty</span></span> <span class=""><span>has</span></span> <span class=""><span>our</span></span> <span class=""><span>face</span></span><span>.</span> <span><span class="">Patriarchal</span> <span class="">violence</span> <span class="">gives</span> <span class="">us</span> <span class="">no</span> <span class="">respite</span>. <span class="">In</span> <span class="">Colombia</span>, <span class="">every</span> 3 <span class="">days</span> <span class="">a</span> <span class="">woman</span> <span class="">is</span> <span class="">killed</span> <span class="">by</span> <span class="">her</span> <span class="">partner</span>, <span class="">ex</span>–<span class="">partner</span>, <span class="">family</span> <span class="">or</span> <span class="">close</span> <span class="">people</span>, <span class="">our</span> <span class="">daughters</span> <span class="">are</span> <span class="">raped</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">abused</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">contexts</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">total</span> <span class="">impunity</span>, <span class="">which</span> <span class="">is</span> <span class="">why</span> <span class="">numerous</span> <span class="">feminist</span> <span class="">organizations</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">women’s</span> <span class="">rights</span> <span class="">defenders</span> <span class="">have</span> <span class="">agreed</span> <span class="">to</span> <span class="">declare</span> <span class="">a</span> <span class="">Humanitarian</span> <span class="">Emergency</span> <span class="">for</span> <span class="">sexist</span> <span class="">violence</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">country</span>.</span> <span><span class="">For</span> <span class="">these</span> <span class="">reasons</span> <span class="">we</span> <span class="">became</span> <span class="">guerrillas</span>, <span class="">for</span> <span class="">these</span> <span class="">reasons</span>, 60 <span class="">years</span> <span class="">after</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">founding</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">ELN</span>, <span class="">we</span> <span class="">have</span> <span class="">succeeded</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">getting</span> <span class="">an</span> <span class="">insurgent</span> <span class="">organization</span> <span class="">to</span> <span class="">recognize</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">take</span> <span class="">on</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">challenge</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">depatriarchalizing</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">depatriarchalizing</span> <span class="">society</span>; <span class="">we</span> <span class="">became</span> <span class="">insurgents</span> <span class="">to</span> <span class="">radically</span> <span class="">transform</span> <span class="">this</span> <span class="">capitalist</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">patriarchal</span> <span class="">society</span>.</span> <span> </span> <em><strong>Amalia Santana</strong></em> Source: <a href="https://eln-voces.net/?p=14413" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Eln Voces</a> <p><a href="https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=17835" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=</span><span class="invisible">17835</span></a></p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/tag/colombia/" target="_blank">#colombia</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/tag/eln/" target="_blank">#eln</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/tag/feminism/" target="_blank">#feminism</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/tag/guerrilla/" target="_blank">#guerrilla</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/tag/guerrilla-struggle/" target="_blank">#guerrillaStruggle</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/tag/patriarchy/" target="_blank">#Patriarchy</a></p>