Ni Una Menos Participants' perspectives Vida Araya Picture taken at Ni Una Menos demonstration in Buenos Aires at the Congress place the 3rd of June 2017 Master thesis in Latin American studies Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages University of Oslo Autumn 2018 “Hay criminales que proclaman tan campantes “la maté porque era mía”, así no más, como si fuera cosa de sentido común y justo de toda justicia y derecho de propiedad privada, que hace al hombre dueño de la mujer. Pero ninguno, ninguno, ni el más macho de los supermachos tiene la valentía de confesar “la maté por miedo”, porque al fin y al cabo el miedo de la mujer a la violencia del hombre es el espejo del miedo del hombre a la mujer sin miedo.” (Galeano n.d). "There are criminals who proclaim without batting an eyelid “I killed her because she was mine”, just like that, as if it were a matter of common sense and justice and a right of private property that makes a man the owner of a woman. But no one, no one, not even the most macho of the super machos, has the courage to confess "I killed her out of fear". After all the woman’s fear of the man’s violence is a mirror of the man’s fear of a woman without fear.” (Galeano n.d: Translated1) 1 All translations have been done by the author of the master thesis, unless otherwise specified. II © Vida Araya 2018 Ni Una Menos: Participants' perspectives Vida Araya http://www.duo.uio.no/ Trykk: Reprosentralen, Universitetet i Oslo III Abstract The Ni Una Menos movement emerged in 2015, and rapidly turned into a key political force in Argentine society in the fight for women’s rights, and against gender-based violence. This study seeks to explore the Ni Una Menos movement from a participant perspective. It examines important characteristics of the Ni Una Menos movement. Specifically, the political and ideological focus of the movement, tools of protest and why individuals choose to participate. Additionally, it attempts to deepen the understanding of the dynamics of the movement with the state, the church and media. These three institutions are essential in Argentine society, and thus affect the movement’s ability to change the status quo. Finally, remarks on the participant’s views of the movement’s impact so far will be presented. This thesis is a qualitative study, where in-depth interviews have been used to understand how the activists themselves make sense of the Ni Una Menos movement. The informants are 16 activists from the Ni Una Menos movement in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The study’s most important findings show that Ni Una Menos is defined by the majority of my informants as a social movement and its core is a collective fight for women´s rights, specifically for women´s right to safety. The movement´s key tools for protest are mass demonstrations and social media, and thus it fits into the fourth wave of feminism. The reasons individuals choose to participate in the movement are multiple; Social discontent, a prosper political context, increased resources and organization, an increased sense of shared identity and a wish to generate solidarity and transform society. As regards to the church, the state and the media, the findings suggest that the church is most contra productive for the movement, while the media is used as an important tool for change. The movement is perhaps the most complex in its relation to the state, as it is at times in direct opposition, but simultaneously essential for real change. Furthermore, the relationship between the movement and the state has become more conflictual since the new right-wing government came to power. Finally, the interviewees describe three kinds of positive change as a result of the movement: Awareness around gender-based violence and other gender issues, a more gender conscious terminology and women´s empowerment. IV Acknowledgments Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to all my informants. I could not have done this research without them, and they have given me great insight about the Ni Una Menos movement. I especially want to thank them for their warmth, openness and kindness. Their perspectives have made me reflect upon my position in society as a woman, and situations where I myself have experienced different forms of gender-based violence. I feel more empowered as a woman after having met all of them. Thanks to my supervisor Anne Margrethe Sønneland, who has always found time to evaluate my work and give me feedback during the process. Without her positivity, reflections and insight I would not have been able to write this thesis. Finally, I would like to thank all my friends and family for supporting me during this process, and for giving me advice when I felt like giving up. I especially want to thank Rocio Covarrubias Grabivker, our yerba mate meetings and talks were indispensable, Nora Warholm Essahli and Rikke Storesund Mohn for taking their time to proof read, and my mother and siblings for always having my back. I want to underline that I take full responsibility for all the arguments, findings and conclusions in this thesis. Vida Araya Oslo, October 2018. V Abbreviations AMMAR – Association of Women Sex Workers in Argentina CCPDH – Central American Council for Human Rights Ombudsmen CORTEIDH – Inter-American Court of Human Rights CONADEP – National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons ENM – Encuentro Nacional de Mujeres/ National Women´s meeting Femicide – The killing of a women because of her gender Feminicide – The killing of a women because of her gender and where the State is considered indirectly responsible for these killings. ICTs – Internet Communication Technologies La Casa Del Encuentro – A Non-Governmental Organization that works for the prevention and awareness of gender-based violence in Argentina. This ONG was the first to public statistics on femicides in Argentina. NGO – Non-Governmental Organization NSM – New social movement NSD - Norwegian Centre for Research Data NESH - The National Committee for Research Ethics in the Social Sciences and the Humanities OAS – The Organization of American States PPF- Women´s Peronist Party Red Par – Argentine Network of Journalists for Non-sexist Communication UNDP - United Nations Development Programme UN -United Nations WTO – World Health Organization VI Table of Content Abstract .................................................................................................................................... IV Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................................... V Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................... VI 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Inspiration for my thesis ................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Presentation of topic ......................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Research question ............................................................................................................. 3 1.4 Relevance and limitations of the study ............................................................................ 4 1.5 The structure of the thesis ................................................................................................ 5 2 Historical and political background ................................................................................... 7 2.1 Defining femicide ............................................................................................................. 7 2.1.1 Femicide vs. Feminicide ........................................................................................... 8 2.2 Gender-based violence in Latin America ......................................................................... 9 2.3 Gendered legislation in Argentina .................................................................................. 10 2.4 The women´s movement in Argentina ........................................................................... 11 3 Theoretical framework ..................................................................................................... 15 3.1 Defining social movements ............................................................................................ 15 3.2 Social movement theory ................................................................................................. 17 3.2.1 The relative deprivation theory ............................................................................... 18 3.2.2 Resource mobilization model .................................................................................. 18 3.2.3 Political process model ............................................................................................ 19 3.2.4 New social movements ............................................................................................ 20 3.2.5 Identity-approach .................................................................................................... 21 3.3 Tools of protest ............................................................................................................... 21 3.4 Waves of feminism ......................................................................................................... 23 3.4.1 The