
Manifa is an annual
feminist demonstration organized in connection with
International Women's Day
International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday list of minor secular observances#March, celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights, women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, ...
on March 8 in various parts of
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...
. In
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...
, it is organized by the informal group Alliance of Women. The name comes from the slang abbreviation for the word ''manifestacja'', used in this form by the anti-government opposition in the 1980s. In 2007 the Manifa was called the "March of Women's Solidarity" (alluding to the
Solidarity
''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dicti ...
Movement) and emphasizing the commonalities of women's struggles.
It represents the power of women and how they have the moral right to obtain the final say in their decisions. June 4, 2009 was the twentieth anniversary for the celebration of
freedom of speech and the will of the people.
The first Manifa in 2000 was organized to protest against a violent enforcement of
anti-abortion
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respo ...
law in
Lubliniec
Lubliniec (german: Lublinitz) is a town in southern Poland with 23,784 inhabitants (2019). It is the capital of Lubliniec County, part of Silesian Voivodeship (since 1999); previously it was in Częstochowa Voivodeship (1975–1998).
Geograp ...
, where police officers detained a gynecologist patient during an examination and forced her to undergo a
forensic
Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and crimin ...
examination.
It turned into a nationwide feminist,
anti-discrimination, and
anti-clerical
Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...
demonstration. The motto of the first Manifa was "
Democracy
Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...
without women is only half-democracy."
In later demonstrations, the focus shifted to economic and employment issues. The motto of the 2011 Manifa was "Enough of exploitation! We give notice!" and was attended by the
All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions, the Polish Trade Union of Nurses and Midwives, the August 80 Free Trade Union, and the
Polish Teachers' Association
Polish Teachers' Union ( pl, Związek Nauczycielstwa Polskiego, ZNP, also translated as ''Union of Polish Teachers'', ''Polish Teachers' Association'', ''Association of Polish Teachers'') is the largest Polish trade union for teachers and educator ...
.
In March 2017, 4,000 people marched under the slogan “Against the Violence of Power” in Warsaw, along with protesters in eight other cities in Poland. The crowd was larger than usually, after the opposition movement blossomed in Poland since the election of
Law and Justice Party
Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński.
It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct su ...
in October 2015. The 19th Manifa in 2018 was focused on Poland's strict anti-abortion law. Approximately 2,000 women walked through Warsaw for an annual Women's Day march in defense of women's rights, including the unrestricted right to abortion. The march focused on Poland's strict anti-abortion law and was a response to Poland's ruling party's plan to ban the possibility of abortion of sick fetuses, which has drawn vehement protests from women's organizations.
The 20th Manifa took place on March 3, 2019, with its slogan being "We are the Revolution. No more being nice to violent guys".
When the women were asked for the reasoning behind the 20th Manifa slogan, they said that it represents the network women have when they all work together.
Moreover, that women are a force to be reckoned with because of the resonation between women and women. Moving into 2020, Manifa The 21st Warsaw Manifa happened on the 8th of March, 2020.
The slogan for the 21st Manifa translated stands for "We are the granddaughters of the witches, who could not be burn".
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Women's marches
Feminist protests
Recurring events established in 2000