Demonstration zum 8. März // Startpunkt: Bochum Hbf (Buddenbergplatz)

HISS INSTEAD OF SUBMIT - WE ARE STILL LIVING FEMINISM

Together against anti-feminism, patriarchal violence and fascist rollbacks!

In March, it is once again time for loud, solidary and unbending resistance. All over the world we are experiencing massive attacks on FLINTA* - women, lesbians, inter, non-binary and agender people, embedded in an authoritarian formation of society that can be felt in all our lives. Anti-feminism, patriarchal violence and authoritarian rollbacks are no longer exceptions. They are part of an organized, ideologically networked and deeply dangerous attack.

We are witnessing an authoritarian advance that uses anti-feminism as a political weapon. Rights, self-determination and life are under attack and violence, agitation and reactionary politics are being systematically promoted. Anti-feminism is used strategically to secure existing power relations and enforce authoritarian policies. By declaring feminist struggles to be the enemy, social conflicts are pushed downwards and the real causes of crises are concealed. Fear and hatred serve to legitimize violence, delegitimize resistance and exert control over bodies, relationships and lifestyles. Anti-feminism is not a by-product, but a fundamental element of a system that thrives on inequality, exploitation and subordination and that fights any emancipatory movement that questions these conditions.

This strategy works because anti-feminism is connectable. In a time characterized by crises, it offers seemingly simple answers, creates common enemy images and thus connects bourgeois-conservative forces with open fascism. As an ideological link, it prepares the ground for exclusion, disenfranchisement and violence and serves as a door opener for the systematic reversal of feminist achievements that have been fought for. As a result, FLINTA*, queer people and feminist struggles are increasingly coming under attack worldwide.

Our response to this is clear: collective resistance. Now is the time to oppose this resolutely - loudly, in solidarity and together.

We are standing up to this - we are still loving feminism!

What begins as ideological agitation ends in violence. Right-wing and fascist movements that delegitimize feminist achievements and propagate patriarchal role models as the supposed order are gaining strength around the world. Anti-feminist agitation is specifically directed against our bodily autonomy, our freedom and our rights to exist. It is intertwined with racism, queerophobia and nationalism - and threatens everything that feminist movements have fought for over decades.

Although no exact figures are available, it is estimated that a feminicide occurs every 10 minutes worldwide, i.e. a woman is murdered BECAUSE she is a woman. In the Federal Criminal Police Office's (BKA) Federal Situation Report on "Gender-specific violence against women", 360 FLINTA were victims of feminicide in 2023. In December 2024, Michaela was murdered by her husband in Bochum, and a little later in February Sara died in Dortmund - stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend. These women have names and families and they are missing from our midst.

We hiss against:

• the burgeoning anti-feminism in a national and international context as an integral part of fascist and authoritarian movements,
• patriarchal violence and feminicides that destroy lives worldwide on a daily basis,
• the ignorance of justice and politics against feminicides and the trivialization of patriarchal violence,
• Hate, incitement and violence against women, FLINTA* and queer people,
• attacks on sexual and reproductive self-determination - especially the right to safe, legal and self-determined abortion,
• reactionary policies that dismantle rights, extend control and attack marginalized groups
• a system that thrives on exploitation and inequality and fights against anything that challenges these conditions.

We stand for:

• feminist solidarity across borders,
• protection, support and visibility for those affected by patriarchal violence,
• bodily autonomy and free choice over one's own body,
• a just society in which all people can live self-determined lives regardless of gender, identity, origin or sexual orientation.

We do not submit, we hiss! We will not allow our voices to be silenced: we are still living feminism! We will not allow our rights to be eroded. We will not accept any further normalization of violence, hatred, agitation and authoritarian rollback.

The Feminist Action Weeks Bochum are spaces of resistance, learning, exchange and solidarity: with demonstrations, workshops, readings and diverse actions. Come together, bring your anger, your struggles and your hope - because justice is not given, it is fought for!

Out for the feminist day of struggle! Out for 08.03.2026!

Start 3 pm, Buddenbergplatz (rear exit main station)