At a press conference held shortly before the 6th of July, work carried out throughout the year has been appraised by feminists and other social stakeholders in Iruñea (Upper Navarre), and they have noted that several declarations made over recent days about San Fermin have made that easier, while others have made it more difficult.
In Iratxe Alvarez and Maddi Lasa's opinion, several media have given the impression that the Iruñea feminist movement and other anti-rape movements were set up as a reaction to the gang rape which took place during the San Fermin Festivities in 2016, but that impression is wrong: "Beyond the headlines, we have been working for years", they stated.
They believe that the people of Iruñea's reaction to sexist attacks has been exceptional, and see it as the result of ceaseless work. They emphasised that the feminist movement had brought that about, accompanied by other social movements, and it has been supported by official organizations since 2014.
They reminded those present that every year collective decisions are taken, protocols are renewed and campaigns are held in order for women to have safe areas during San Fermin. During recent weeks many initiatives have been started with regard to San Fermin: on July 6th, the start of the festivities, wearing black T-shirts instead of the usual white ones has been proposed; suggestions that women should not take part in San Fermin, on the other hand, have been questioned, but not agreed upon or seen to have any clear purpose. They denounced such proposals as "erasing" the work which has been carried out, and doing so this year would have "a negative influence on local dynamics".
They believe that doing that would be "harmful" for the struggle against sexist attacks. "We see that as outside intervention which would affect and weaken the collective work carried out in Iruñea", they stated. They made it clear that opinions are always welcome "as long as the necessary communication routes are followed, they are checked first with movements in Iruñea, and they are specific to our situation".
"Our announcements are specific, situated within the context of overall campaigns, and some of them have long-term objectives", they stated, also denouncing the presence of "many opportunistic dynamics" which are no help to women who have been attacked or towards the objective of attack-free festivities.
They have repeated the message so often stated since the gang rape of 2016: focusing on a single case makes other attacks become invisible. They reminded those present that all attacks are important, and that all women who suffer them need our solidarity.
They restated their commitment to achieving festivities without sexist attacks, and spoke in favour of feminist self-defence, while also wishing all women good festivities.
This article was translated by 11itzulpen; you can see the original in Basque here.