On Wednesday 11th November in Cardiff, protesters took to the streets in solidarity with the women’s movement in Poland that has taken the country by storm since the end of October.
Hundreds of thousands of Poles have taken to the streets against a major attack on abortion rights the country. After forcing the ruling Law and Justice party to postpone the new law, the movement has stayed on the streets however, taking up a wider range of issues from healthcare to opposition to racism and bigotry. Some have described it as a war against the state.
“It went amazing,” said Kamil D. Jantos, a co-organiser of the solidarity protest. “I think there were a tiny bit over 100 people. We were shocked to even see that many people turning up.”
“The speeches were great,” said Kamil. “Factual, informative, raising awareness. People needed to express their anger. I think they really needed this event. We had Polish people speaking but also girlfriends of Polish guys, an Abortion Rights Cardiff member spoke very openly. The atmosphere was fantastic.”
The protest heard received a video message of support from MS Leanne WoodPhoto by Tracey LeonardMalgola & Kamil. Photo by Tom Davies
There are some 27,000 Poles living in Wales and Polish is the third most spoken language in Wales. We spoke to Kamil and fellow organiser Małgola Gulczyńska ahead of the protest about what was behind the recent historic events.
What made you call the protest in Cardiff now?
There needed to be something done. Because of Welsh Lockdown, we couldn’t do anything, so we decided to do it straight after. 11th of November is a perfect day for it. It is Polish Independence Day and we should remember about those who fought for our country. But did they fight for Poland in which fundamental human rights are taken away from its citizens? It is an important issue and I think that awareness about it needs to be raised in countries outside of Poland.
And what has the movement in Poland been like?
Since 22nd of October when the Polish Constitutional Court ruled that abortion due to foetal abnormalities was unconstitutional, protests and strikes started happening. Every day they were becoming stronger. Now Polish women are on the streets for 3 weeks, trying to fight for those human rights.
The movement is massive, people are protesting in big cities and towns and even villages. They are fed up with the current government. Even LGBT people (who were previously this year called ‘an ideology’ by President Duda and members of ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS)) have joined in the fight with women.
It is not only women who are fighting now. Those are the people who are saying enough is enough. People have enough of Catholic church being a part of politics, dehumanising its citizens, calling them stupid. The biggest protest happened in Warsaw at the end of October, it is said that approximately 150,000 people attended. The Law and Justice Party has started a war, and they are constantly putting more fuel to the fire. The movement is still going and I do not think it will stop anytime soon. This is a war between Polish government and its citizens.
So have the protest become also about other issues, not just the abortion law?
It goes beyond the abortion ban. Ogolnopolski Strajk Kobiet (Polish Women’s Strike organisation) chaired by Marta Lempart wrote their aims and objectives. They want stronger and wider women’s and LGBTQ+ rights in general, the separation of church and state, more support for healthcare, small businesses and education and full judicial independence.
There are more aims, those are only a few. However, the topic of abortion is the most important here. Women need to have a choice. The access to abortion in Poland is one of the most restricted in Europe anyway.
Many women are still going to other countries to perform abortion because they cannot do it in their home country.
Now the government [after protests] has indefinitely postponed publishing the court’s decision in the official journal, stopping it from coming into effect. But we Poles know our government and we know that they will push it through when we are expecting it the least. They constantly give us a shitshow – sorry we’re fuming.
Just finally, do you have friends on the protests in Poland?
We have loads of friends who are supporting the movement. Some of my friends took part in a car protest which meant to block the streets of the cities, some of them protested in bigger or small cities. My family is even protesting in Poland and I am happy that my parents, also close family who live in Wales will join me on Wednesday to support Women in Poland. I have faith in the people on the streets, time to make a change.
