Resisting the Anti-Gender Agenda: Reviving Reproductive Justice

Reproductive justice is facing intense opposition from the anti-gender movement, which increasingly takes over parliaments and governments. By shaping policies and narratives around abortion, contraception, and access to health care, they target our human right to bodily autonomy and self-determination. 

This discussion explores the methods and strategies used by the reproductive justice movement to resist the rising right-wing movement. What have we learned from past feminist achievements and failures? What worked well, and can we use the same methods and strategies again, in the current anti-democratic climate? 

What makes anti-gender narratives so appealing to voters? How is the “human rights” language being used to attack the right to abortion, access to contraception, and reproductive health care for women and queer people? How does resistance work in non-democratic surroundings?

Together with our panelists, we want to zoom into current strategies applied by feminists in Argentina and Germany to build resilience against this growing opposition. Which approaches work despite the anti-gender climate, and where can we find allies in shrinking or closing spaces?

• Ruth Zurbriggen, Argentina
  An activist and researcher with Colectiva Feminista La Revuelta in Neuquén-Patagonia, Socorristas en Red in Argentina, and Red Compañera across Latin America and the Caribbean. Ruth is a teacher and professor in Education Sciences.
   
• Lina Dahm, Germany
  A freelance journalist and podcaster from Munich, Germany. Lina is working on anti-feminist issues, with a strong focus on the anti-choice movement. 

*Reproductive justice is more than just reproductive rights; it is a framework that emphasizes the broader intersection between healthcare access, availability, and social justice. The term was coined by Black feminist activists in the US, to address the gap in the reproductive rights movement, which didn’t sufficiently include marginalized groups and a social justice perspective.