No Without Women

A Manifesto: No Longer without Us Women

Who are we?

We are women, who feel ourselves to be proud heiresses of 150 years of development of forward-thinking women’s movements in Slovenia. Through these movements, we won the rights to education in all professions, to equal pay for equal work, to vote at all levels, to decide about our own bodies, and to a social state, which enables us to exercise these rights. Through these movements, we gained independence from male dominance in public and private life from both the Church and an undemocratic State.

We are women, who feel ourselves responsible not only to secure, but also to expand and enhance, and, above all, enact these rights.

How do we interpret the current crisis?

The EU and Slovenia along with it got caught in a trap of a form of capitalism in which decision about consumption of accumulated social wealth passes from a democratically-elected government and other democratic decision makers (parties, social partners, non-governmental organizations) to international, and private financial institutions, multi-national corporations and supra-national governing bodies, which decide in the interest of the economically most powerful nations and other entities. It is a matter of a furtive transfer and concentration of economic and political power in the hands of those who do not have democratic legal support. A majority of the World’s population is ever poorer and left to the discretion of a rarified layer of rulers, or rather a financial-economic oligarchy, which has usurped democracy, rule of law, the social state thereby robbing the majority of their human dignity and present and future prospects worthy of a human being.

The Slovenian form of this process is characterized by the following features: “partiocracy” which is incomparable to any other form of democracy found elsewhere, an unjust denationalization, tycoonization, systemic corruption, which leads to the destruction of the economic basis of the whole society, to general regression and dependence as well as neo-colonial debt dependence. Culture, as distinguished from the world of the cultural industry and show business, which does not serve to bring about financial or capital gain, has become the whipping boy of this society, and the irreparable consequences are palpable on a daily basis not only in ethics and esthetics, moreover in all aspects of life.

The circle of victims has been expanding for the past two decades. Through the eruption of the financial crisis and economic recession from 2008 onward, a majority of people felt consequences. Despite numerous voices that publicly and legitimately express a desire for different trends of social progress, and economic as well, we lack a vision, which would take into account current fundamental gender divisions, which give rise to prevalent destructive ideas of the “right” progress.   

How do we interpret protests?

Resistance against economic and political dispossession and endless intimidation sparked mass protests and brought people to the streets. That which we call today the All-Slovenian Popular Uprising, is a struggle of various unions, movements, interest groups, groups of impoverished and humiliated people as well as socially recognized yet formerly overlooked or silenced creative individuals against abuses of the rule of law, democratic institutions, including parties, as well as against some media establishments, which often conceal true content and consequences of this process. Together with other like-minded groups we commit ourselves to:

1.      The rule of law, which protects universal, indivisible, inalienable human rights and enables their implementation in practice.

2.      A social welfare state, which includes in the common good all services and goods, which enable each individual to be included in society

3.      A democracy in which we, the people, have an effective opportunity to treat social questions and matters in fundamental forms of social organization (living, working groups, and others) to ensure that matters concerning living conditions and work are decided by democratically-elected bodies, not at party summits; that citizens participate directly in the formulation of criteria for candidates, that we form a list of candidates and elect by name candidates from the list and influence their work all the while thereafter, checking their responsibility and casting a vote of no-confidence if the need arises.

We, the conscious women in Slovenia are joining the uprising movement on our own grounds. We want a fundamental re-evaluation, of so-called male values, which drive the World (and are guaranteed and implemented by men and women alike) and also through acknowledging the role and potential of women, we commit ourselves to the re-evaluation of values in the functioning of the rule of law and the social welfare state and for democracy suited to the needs of the most vulnerable social groups. So, we demand especially:   

1.      Equal representation of women and men in all bodies of public, economic, and political decision making – immediate introduction of parity democracy

2.      Sustainable development of Slovenia, which originates and invests in Nature and people.

3.      Universal, universally-equally-accessible and quality health care and social security

4.      Improvement of family legislation as well as taking into account new forms of families

5.      Ending replacement of the social welfare state with private good will drives, and accordingly increases in welfare amounts and the minimal wage to a level, which ensures an existence that is worthy of a human being or new forms of financial security, whereby the State would ensure existence worthy of a human being.

6.      Organizing working conditions such that overtime is prohibited, working hours are reduced, and new jobs are created even through the introduction of economic activities, which function without profit, the abolition of flexible/uncertain forms of employment, which hit women and entire families hardest.

7.      Organizing working conditions of those self-employed in culture or journalism to ensure general labor, social, and financial standards for this form of (self-)employment.

8.      Guaranteeing free admission to the education process at secondary and tertiary levels under equal conditions for all regardless of their social rank or economic class.

9.      Immediate elimination of all laws and regulations, which enable effective violation of the constitutional principle of separation of religious groups and the State.

How are we going to operate?

We, progressive women in Slovenia are joining the uprising movement and unite all potentials for co-developing alternative ways out of the economic, social, culture-ethical and socio-political dimensions of this crisis. In order to ensure a peaceful resolution of this crisis, we will increase the numbers of those participating in the uprising and enhance the search for alternatives with our proposals in addition to trying to transform all institutions in which we are already participating in such a way so that they will start to address the needs of the majority (99%) of all people.

One transition without suitable representation of women in public life has already cost us dearly. No longer without us! Our strength lies in our resolve to define political responsibility anew for the public good, and in this we take the initiative. Our strength lies in our knowledge. Our strength lies in our numbers! Let’s show this strength! Join us! Not about us, for us, without us! With us!