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Feminist movements in Argentina and Brazil: mobilization of human rights law in the struggle against Corporal Fascism Over Women’s Bodies
Última alteração: 2019-07-09
Resumo
Even though women’s rights have become a hegemonic concept, the world has not become a more equal or just world for women. Never before have there been more laws, covenants and treaties nor have there been more organizations dedicated to the promotion and protection of women’s rights. Despite these efforts, women continue to be discriminated against, to experience physical and sexual violence, and to be denied sexual and reproductive autonomy. In addition, the current social, economic and political global scenario has given rise to social and political authoritarian regimes. Many countries claim to be democracies but are, in fact, low-intensity democracies, with politically democratic and socially fascist societies. This global rise of societal fascism constantly produces women as nonexistent and places them on the other side of the abyssal line (SANTOS, 2007). Expanding on Boaventura de Sousa Santos’ five forms of societal fascism (SANTOS, 2014), this research advances the concept of corporal fascism which occurs when social actors through legal, financial or other forms of manipulation coerce, impose and/or physically control another party’s body against their will and/or interest threatening their life and livelihood. As such, in this paper, I develop the concept of corporal fascism and, in particular, corporal fascism over women’s bodies using as springboard women’s resistance experiences in Brazil and Argentina opposing the prohibition of abortion. Specifically, as examples of resistance to corporal fascism over women’s bodies, I focus on: (1) Argentina’s feminist movements’ proposed bill before Congress and their mass mobilization for safe, legal and free abortion and (2) Brazil’s mobilization of organized civil society (i.e. feminist movements, NGO’s, academics, political parties, etc.) to decriminalize abortion through a constitutional challenge before the Supreme Court (STF). In both cases the demand is the same, the recognition of abortion as a woman’s right over her body, and, in both situations, feminist movements are reinventing the law to promote and protect the interests of subaltern social groups. In other words, in both countries feminist movements seek to use the law from a counter-hegemonic perspective as a means to combat corporal fascism over women’s bodies (BUTLER, 2010).