censorship — World News, Travel and Social Action

Many view the reelection of Polish President Andrzej Duda in July as a further setback for women’s and LGBTQ+ rights in the country.

Andrzej Duda, the president of Poland, meets with a leader of the Roman Catholic Church. EpiskopatNews. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

For much of the 20th century, Poland was under the influence of foreign countries, particularly the Soviet Union. This caused communism and its ideologies of censorship and control to direct the Poles’ daily lives. During that time, the Roman Catholic Church provided a safe space for many people to feel freedom. Thus, post-communist Poland has continued to embrace Catholicism, with 93% of Poles practicing it despite the country having no official religion.

A result of the Catholic Church’s widespread influence has been restrictive measures toward women and those in Poland’s LGBTQ+ community. One of the first major impacts seen was the passage of an “anti-abortion law” in 1988. While this law banned most instances of the procedure, many doctors and hospitals did not fully enforce it at the time.

Abortion is still a topic of debate in Polish political campaigns. In the Catholic Church’s eyes, abortion is seen as murder and a direct violation of God’s will. Thus, any practice which may go against God’s “original intent” is normally frowned upon.

Due to the Catholic Church’s continued influence in Poland, most legislation passed today still follows the Church’s guidance. This includes on LGBTQ+ rights, where as of June nearly 100 locations had declared themselves to be “LGBT-free zones.”. Yet the fight for LGBTQ+ rights has continued, especially since the election of the staunchly-conservative Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

LGBTQ+ activists in Poland. Sakuto. CC BY-NC 2.0.

Additionally, the reelection campaign of President Andrzej Duda painted a narrative that LGBTQ+ individuals are a threat to society. As a part of the right-wing Law and Justice Party, his ideologies align with protecting Poland’s “traditional values.” Duda even went so far as to call the LGBTQ+ rights movement “an ideology worse than communism.” He also tapped into anti-Semitism that has been prevalent since World War II by saying that Jewish interests would become more important than Polish ones if his opponent Rafal Trzaskowski had won.

Two weeks after Duda’s victory in the July presidential election, it was announced that Poland was in the process of withdrawing from a European domestic violence treaty known as the Istanbul Convention. This treaty protected women from any forms of violence and placed responsibility on European states to take appropriate measures to protect women and punish attackers.

As justification for the government's decision, Poland denounced the treaty as an infringement on parents’ rights since it required children to be taught about nontraditional gender roles. Duda claimed that the treaty “contains elements of an ideological nature, which we consider harmful.” Many women have argued that withdrawing from the treaty only legalizes domestic violence in Poland.

Eva Ashbaugh

is a Political Science and Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies double major at the University of Pittsburgh. As a political science major concentrating on International Relations, she is passionate about human rights, foreign policy, and fighting for equality. She hopes to one day travel and help educate people to make the world a better place.

Despite unrest in Chile, feminist group Las Tesis continues to advocate for justice against police brutality and sexual violence toward women in Latin America.

Translation: “Systemic violence is the worst crime.” John Englart. CC BY-SA 2.0

Last year, Chilean feminist group Las Tesis released “Un Violador en Tu Camino” (“A Rapist in Your Path”), a song that became an anthem against sexual violence worldwide. The piece, which calls out the judicial system and the struggle of women across Latin America, has been performed all around the world in the form of flash mobs. Many who participate wear black blindfolds and green scarves to advocate for legal abortion practices as well.

The song first was created in light of the social inequality protests occurring in Chile in November 2019. The lyrics call out the unfair treatment of the Chilean government toward women. It says that a narrative is being written where women are to blame for sexual violence. Yet, the song places blame on the patriarchy, police and government systems for being blind to this ongoing violence.

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Chile is considered one of the world’s most unequal countries and is susceptible to climate change. Chile is also considered to have one of the highest costs of living across South America. While the rich prosper from their investments in terms of development, the poor communities and Indigenous people suffer at the hands of urbanization.

Feminist sign in Chile which translates to “the feminist struggle is also against neoliberalism.” John Englart. CC BY-SA 2.0.

Many Chileans consider themselves “at war against a powerful enemy.” Rather than succumbing to the protesters’ demands, President Pinera declared a state of emergency that involved the deployment of the military to control crowds and the institution of a curfew. These measures have caused a sharp decline in protests like Las Tesis’.

International attention has focused on the treatment of protesters, with allegations of human rights violations. For instance, there have been claims that protesters may have been tortured, resulting in at least 19 deaths and 20 people being reported missing. Additionally, there has been a 15% increase in sexual violence reports since last year.

However, on June 12, the police filed a lawsuit against Las Tesis. In the lawsuit, police claim that the feminist group encourages violence against officers of Chile’s national police force, Carabineros de Chile. Charges came after the release of “Manifesto Against Police Violence,” a video produced alongside Russia’s Pussy Riot where protesters stood outside of a police station and demanded to “fire the police.” Chilean police took the video as threats against officers, but no papers have been officially served yet to the feminist group.

Daffne Valdes, one of the founders of Las Tesis, said in an interview with Al-Jazeera that “this is an attack on freedom of expression,” calling it a form of censorship. Even though in both the song and video by Las Tesis the police are called out as “rapists,” group members say they are simply referring to the corruption seen throughout Chile’s police system.