The Portuguese platform joins ECICW!
For the second time in the history of the Portuguese feminist movement, the coordination of women in Portugal, the Portuguese Platform for Women’s Rights (PpDM) is a member of the International Council of Women (CIF), an organization founded in the 19th century and widely recognized as a fierce defender of the international feminist movement. The PpDM became the National Council of Portugal of the CIF and CECIF.
It is a historic moment, after 76 years of absence, and marked in Portugal by four events on May 18 and 19, 2023, in Lisbon: Two General Assemblies of the ECICW, on May 19th and a Seminar of the European Center of the International Council of women of women in Portugal: past, present and future, also on May 19th.
Other meetings punctuated these historic days, such as the one with the Secretary of State for Equality and Migration, Isabel Almeida Rodrigues, on May 18th.
And a meeting with the subcommittee for equality and non-discrimination of the Parliament, in the Senate room, on May 19th
The International Council of Women (ICW), founded in 1888, is the first women’s organization to work on the international stage. Part of the first feminist wave and deeply marked by the suffragist cause, the ICW aimed to create national councils in each country, in order to strengthen the fight for equality between women and men and fight against social, political and economic injustices against women and children, in a global and transnational perspective. To this day, the ICW aims to join and unite women’s organizations from all countries, through a federation of National Councils. The Portuguese Platform for Women’s Rights therefore becomes one of these councils.
The first time Portugal was represented in the ICW was in 1914, through the National Council of Portuguese Women (CNMP), which was admitted as the National Council of Portugal during the fifth quinquennial assembly of the ICW , in Rome.
The last participation of the CNMP in an international congress goes back to 1938, which can be explained by global political instability. The CNMP itself was dissolved less than ten years later, in 1947, by the Estado Novo. This 76-year inter reign has come to an end with the return of Portugal to the International Council of Women, represented by the PpDM.
For 76 years, Portugal was not represented in the International Council of Women. “We now resume this connection, aware that we face different and diverse challenges, but certain of the rightness of the cause that unites us all – here and beyond borders, in 1914 and in 2023” said Ana Sofia Fernandes, President of the Portuguese Platform for Women’s Rights
As an example of the continuity of the causes that unite us, despite the temporal discontinuity of representation, it is important to mention that it was the CNMP which, under the presidency of Maria Lamas, formed the Organizing Committee of the Portuguese Abolitionist Movement (COMAP), whose main objective was “to study ways to intensify an abolitionist campaign in Portugal, to fight against prostitution in general, and in particular the system of regulation of prostitution.” Nearly a hundred years later, civil society organisations, and women’s organisations in particular, continue to fight for this same cause, aware of the flagrant violation of human rights represented by the prostitution system, and committed to empowerment of women and for the implementation of the equality model in Portugal.
The European Center of the International Council of Women has already greeted the return of Portugal to the European Center of the ICW: “For our members, the struggles for more equality between women and men, for the end of violence against women and girls, for sexual and reproductive rights, for conflict resolution and solidarity during conflicts and wars, against sexual apartheid and for a Europe without prostitution are fundamental. The Portuguese Platform for Women’s Rights is a strong association for women’s rights, which fights for the model of equality in Europe and combats setbacks in this area with a strong feminist message. It is therefore with enthusiasm that we welcome PpDM to the European Center of the International Council of Women.” Viviane Teitelbaum, president of the ECICW¸ continues: “Today, equality between women and men is clearly not a priority. We must change this situation (…) We want equality for all women, without exception; for women of all origins and ages, regions and status. We must recover the founding values of feminism. We are convinced that the Portuguese Platform for Women’s Rights will contribute to this important commitment.”