
The Green Wave, Bogota, February 2022
Welcome to March 2022, International Women’s Month; welcome to March 8, International Women’s Day; welcome to … the Thunderdome where, amidst all the recognition and all the ceremonies honoring women’s accomplishments and very being, one government, Nigeria’s, rejects Constitutional amendments designed to begin the process of gender parity, equity, equality. Another country, South Korea, elects a new President largely because he’s not only misogynist but explicitly anti-feminist. In a third country, Guatemala, on March 8, the legislature passed a law which extended the prison term for terminating a pregnancy from three to ten years, banned the teaching of sexual diversity, and, for good measure, in the name of the “protection of life and family”, banned same-sex marriages. So, basically, we’re not in Kansas anymore. We’re in Texas. Welcome to the Thunderdome.
On Sunday, the newly elected President of South Korea reiterated his determination to eliminate the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. He argued, first, that the work of the ministry had been completed. There was complete and total gender equality in South Korea. No matter that employment numbers, prior to the pandemic and even more, paint a different picture. No matter that violence against women and non-binary people is on the rise. What really matters is that `feminists’ have gone too far, and that’s the reason the new President is shutting the machinery, such as it is, down. It’s also a reason he was elected. He campaigned explicitly as an anti-feminist, who argued that gender based quotas stand in the way of “national unity”; that feminism caused South Korea’s low birth rate; that women falsely report sexual violence, and they must be punished, severely. Exit polls suggest that men in their 20s and 30s voted overwhelmingly for the anti-feminist.
These are grim times. But they are not without hope. There is light, there is real and serious opposition in the Thunderdome.
February ended with a landmark decision in Colombia decriminalizing abortion and setting the stage for the government to go further to codify and secure women’s access to reproductive health services as well as to dignity and autonomy. This victory in court was the product of numerous women’s organizations and movements doing the arduous, and joyful, work of reaching out and reaching in, of engaging with all parts of the society, with demanding while also educating while also learning. This is part of the great Green Wave that is surging across Latin America. It is also part of the electoral politics of Colombia, and so it is worth noting that in yesterday’s primary elections, leftist candidate Gustavo Petro has taken a resounding lead. The elections are in May. Further, on March 8, the Congress of Sinaloa, a state in northwest Mexico, decriminalized abortion.
And speaking of elections, in December, Chile elected 36-year-old, leftist, pro-feminist Gabriel Boric to be President of Chile. Boric is the youngest person to ever hold that position. Perhaps more importantly, he won with the largest majority ever recorded in a Chilean election. On Friday, March 11, Gabriel Boric was sworn in. He stood with his progressive, majority-women Cabinet by his side. Bread and roses, words and deeds. Hope springs in the place that served as the proving ground for neoliberal devastation, and not only for Chile, for all of Latin America and beyond. Even now, even here, there is hope and optimism, being found, being made.

Chile
(By Dan Moshenberg)
(Photo Credit 1: Nathalia Angarita / New York Times) (Photo Credit 2: Carolina Pérez Dattari / Open Democracy)
Bermuda’s ban on same-sex marriage is allowed, UK judges rule https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/14/bermuda-ban-on-same-sex-marriage-is-allowed-uk-judges-rule
‘I don’t feel safe’: Guatemalans denounce anti-abortion law https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/14/i-dont-feel-safe-guatemalans-denounce-anti-abortion-law
Promesa incumplida: a más de dos años, Puebla no ha liberado a mujeres presas por abortar https://www.animalpolitico.com/2022/03/amnistia-aborto-promesa-puebla/
Guatemala Congress shelves same-sex marriage ban https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-60764402
Democrats regroup after defeat, placing gender equality issues at top of agenda https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1034947.html
In Reversal, Guatemala Shelves Anti-Abortion Law https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/15/world/americas/guatemala-abortion-law.html
Causa Justa, el movimiento que dio un giro al debate sobre el aborto en Colombia https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/latamcaribbean/2022/03/17/causa-justa-aborto-colombia-2022/
Women, education, climate, reunification, housing experts absent from Yoon’s transition committee https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1035427.html
Non-binary person elected to Colombian Congress – https://www.washingtonblade.com/2022/03/17/non-binary-person-elected-to-colombian-congress/
Chile’s new President Boric signs Escazu environmental treaty https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/18/chile-new-president-boric-signs-escazu-environmental-treaty
Chile writes a new history: ‘This is an opportunity to design the country we dream of’ https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/chile-writes-a-new-history-this-is-an-opportunity-to-design-the-country-we-dream-of-1.4830282
La marea verde sigue en la región, con más avances en Chile, Colombia y Ecuador https://www.telam.com.ar/notas/202203/586971-marea-verda-latinoamerica-colombia-ecuador-chile-ive-feminista.html
Colombia’s Fossil Fuel Industry Is Freaking Out About Presidential Front-Runner Gustavo Petro https://newrepublic.com/article/165800/bogota-gustavo-petro-fossil-fuels
Constituciones, derechos sexuales y reproductivos https://www.latercera.com/opinion/noticia/constituciones-derechos-sexuales-y-reproductivos/E7BCOE5QCNEMLLDJWQCKTHAQFQ/
LasTesis: «Hay que revisar el pasado y el presente para que el futuro sea feminista»
https://efeminista.com/lastesis-antologia-feminista/
America’s restrictive turn on abortion pushes against a regional — and democratic — trend https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/21/abortion-rights-latin-america-colombia-guatemala-el-salvador-united-states/
Former guerilla member running for president of Colombia envisions new Latin American left https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/24/colombia-election-gustavo-petro/
Misogyny helped South Korea’s president win. Now feminists are fighting back https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/misogyny-helped-south-koreas-president-win-now-feminists-are-fighting-back/
Colombia has approved more liberal abortion laws, sparking backlash https://www.npr.org/2022/03/30/1089774564/colombia-has-approved-more-liberal-abortion-laws-sparking-backlash
Guatemala Tried to Make Abortion Punishable With 10 Years in Prison https://womensmediacenter.com/fbomb/guatemala-tried-to-make-abortion-punishable-with-10-years-in-prison
While Roe v. Wade is under attack in the U.S., Latin American women are winning abortion rights | Opinion https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article259980640.html
Gabriel Boric: “las mujeres fueron fundamentales para nuestro triunfo” | El presidente de Chile se refirió al movimiento feminista https://www.pagina12.com.ar/412769-gabriel-boric-las-mujeres-fueron-fundamentales-para-nuestro-
Chile Becomes First Country in the Americas To Protect Abortion Rights in Its Constitution https://msmagazine.com/2022/04/04/chile-abortion-constitution-feminism/
The social movement that shifted the debate on abortion in Colombia https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/latamcaribbean/2022/04/07/the-social-movement-that-shifted-the-debate-on-abortion-in-colombia/
https://www.proceso.com.mx/nacional/2022/4/7/congreso-de-jalisco-aprueba-el-matrimonio-igualitario-sancionaran-las-terapias-de-conversion-283822.html
Yoon’s first 8 Cabinet picks show lack of diversity, with only 1 woman and no young people https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1038425.html
Workers’ rights at the heart of Chile’s new constitutional convention https://mg.co.za/opinion/2022-04-12-workers-rights-at-the-heart-of-chiles-new-constitutional-convention/
Yoon includes drafter of problematic 2015 “comfort women” agreement in envoy to Japan https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1039402.html
Asked about gender inequality in S. Korea, Yoon calls issue “politically framed” in WaPo interview https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1039570.html
Una colectiva combate “las voces del estigma” que rodean al aborto https://www.animalpolitico.com/2022/04/aborto-interrupcion-del-embarazo-colectiva-contra-estigma/
Chile is writing a new chapter in its history https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/04/26/chile-is-writing-new-chapter-its-history/
How Latin American women are winning the battle for abortion rights https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/women-latin-america-winning-abortion-rights/
‘We were told our brothers were dead’: Chile’s lost tribe reclaims identity https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/03/chile-indigenous-selknam-not-extinct-constitution
Latin American feminists vow to protect abortion rights at home after shock US ruling https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/may/05/latin-america-abortion-rights-roe-v-wade
Roe Inspired Activists Worldwide, Who May Be Rethinking Strategy https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/04/world/americas/abortion-activists-movements.html
What Latin American feminists can teach American women about the abortion fight | Verónica Gago https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/10/abortion-roe-v-wade-latin-america
As Emhoff visits South Korea, gender and LGBTQ issues come to the fore https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/11/south-korea-gender-lgbt-rights-president-yoon/
Chile: Dismantling the Dictatorship – Arena https://arena.org.au/chile-dismantling-the-dictatorship/
Chile finalises new draft constitution to replace Pinochet-era document https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/16/chile-constitution-new-draft-pinochet
El Congreso de Guerrero despenaliza el aborto https://www.jornada.com.mx/notas/2022/05/18/estados/el-congreso-de-guerrero-despenaliza-el-aborto/
Mexico’s Guerrero state becomes ninth to allow abortions https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexicos-guerrero-state-becomes-ninth-allow-abortions-2022-05-18/
El Congreso de Guerrero aprueba la despenalización del aborto https://www.proceso.com.mx/nacional/estados/2022/5/17/el-congreso-de-guerrero-aprueba-la-despenalizacion-del-aborto-286090.html
How Latin American Women Are Winning the Battle for Abortion Rights https://nacla.org/how-latin-american-women-are-winning-battle-abortion-rights
23 estados esperan la despenalización del aborto; con amparos, algunos apuestan por la homologación al criterio de la Corte https://www.animalpolitico.com/2022/05/estados-esperan-despenalizacion-aborto/
Chile government apologizes to woman for forced sterilization https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/may/26/chile-apologizes-woman-forced-sterilization-hiv
La Corte invalida norma para proteger la vida desde la concepción en Veracruz https://www.proceso.com.mx/nacional/2022/5/30/la-corte-invalida-norma-para-proteger-la-vida-desde-la-concepcion-en-veracruz-286768.html
To fight abortion stigma, frame it as healthcare https://qz.com/2177641/how-mexico-used-the-right-to-health-to-protect-abortion/
Veracruz Decriminalized Abortion, but Activists Remain Crucial in Ensuring Access https://nacla.org/veracruz-abortion-activists