Male Politicians In Croatia Talked About How Rape Shouldn’t Call For Abortion And Women Decided To Show Them The Middle Finger
We’ve all been through a rebellious stage in our lives while growing up. And it wasn’t always an all out rebellion – sometimes it was staying out past curfew, sometimes, it was sneaking out for a smoke. But rebellion it was. It almost comes to us as second nature, the moment we are denied what we feel is rightfully ours. And while it may have been triggered at home, when a simple permission that was denied, it is now a full fledged phenomenon that holds the power to bring about change and if not that, then at least start a dialogue around it.
And with a similar mindset, Croatian women are taking to the streets and social media, to express their anger towards the recent anti-abortion remarks that were made during the pre-election debates. What we love is that now they’ve abandoned the ‘being nice’ bit and have declared an all out war on misogyny.
It all started during the pre-election debates, when Miroslav Skoro of the Homeland Movement and Goran Jandrokovic of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union spoke about how abortions need to be reduced to the minimum. Mr Jandrokovic said that, “In my opinion life begins at conception and should be protected. We should work on education to reduce abortions to the smallest possible number.” Meanwhile, Mr. Skoro argued that, “We are not a primitive society, no ban is needed, but we need to do everything we can to preserve life. If a woman gets pregnant after rape, she must discuss with her family what to do.”
A far-right politician in Croatia said women who become pregnant after they’re raped should ask their families for permission before having an abortion.
In response, women across Croatia (including the former president!) have given him the middle finger: https://t.co/dybiHhEiYy pic.twitter.com/o0NCP07DTu
— Seb Starcevic (@SebStarcevic) June 21, 2020
“Croatian women show the middle finger to abortion remarks”
“Abortion is legal in Croatia but there are fears it is becoming less available under pressure from the Catholic Church and activists.”https://t.co/8euN0Brejl
— Atheist Ireland (@atheistie) June 24, 2020
First of all, these are men who decided that women should not have agency over their own bodies. And it wasn’t like they stopped when they realised how stupid they sound (or are). No! An independent candidate Nino Raspudic also went ahead to add to such arguments by talking about how, “testimonies of children conceived through wartime rape in Bosnia and Herzegovina showed that they managed to find realisation as happy persons”. We can’t. We simply can’t.
Of course no one bothered to take into account what the women who birthed these ‘happy persons’ had gone through – the trauma, the pain, the constant reminders – because why bother listening when women are speaking.
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And rightfully so, Croatian women decided to protest this. And since we women are so done voicing our disdain, Croatian women are done with being nice and simply showed these politicians the middle finger. The message strong and clear was enough to convey that people, particularly women hated the guts of these idiotic men. This included the deputy mayor of the Croatian town of Osijek, Zana Gamos, and she was one of the first ones to raise the middle finger.
https://www.facebook.com/zanagamos/photos/a.816458788704115/1172783649738292/?type=3&theater
Her Facebook post read, “My dear, here’s a lady’s answer to the gentlemen thinking of the genius who has advice on what a rape woman needs to do. And get advice.” Further rendering support to the movement was ex female president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, who also stated that, “I join all women who with this ´indecent´ act… raise their voice against those who try to send us back centuries.”
Not just women, but a large number of men as well supported women in this fight, by taking a stand. Education minister Blazenka Divjak being one of them, who called the anti-abortion remarks a, “sadistic humiliation of women and their rights… for political goals,” and we couldn’t agree more with him. For years, women have been told what to do, how to live and it is time that they are given the right, freedom and choice to make their own decisions, especially ones that concern their body. No one should have the right to tell a woman what or what not to do with her body, and to anyone who feels otherwise can shove the symbol of this rebellion, where the sun doesn’t shine.
