WBJ: Strajk Kobiet (in English: Women’s Strike) is the biggest protest in Poland in over three decades. It has a character broader than pro-abortion demands. The strikes protest against attacks on people with different sexual orientations. Protestors have been targeted by law enforcement agencies. You were also tear-gassed by police. How do you see the impact of these protests?
Barbara Nowacka: I have always been a supporter of women’s rights. I do not see the reason to not take part in such protests. Strajk Kobiet demonstrations have been organized in all of Poland – in cities as well as towns and villages. I have very close contact with my voters. I was elected in constituency no 26 [northern Poland]. I visit many places in that region. For example, in Lębork, as many as 10 percent of its inhabitants took part in the protests organized there. Organizing demonstrations is riskier in smaller cities than in the bigger ones. Nevertheless, despite the risks, women have shown great courage to form groups and organize protests. Women’s attitudes are changing in Poland like in other countries. Women from different strata of society and generations and from different educational backgrounds and occupations are coming together.
The young women that I met and talked to during the strikes underlined that they have modern and progressive attitudes toward life. They want freedom in their approach to abortion and church. They are pro-EU and have many contacts with its member states. They have traveled there. And in certain cases, they were forced to undergo abortions in other[EU] countries. In Poland, they are against the attitude of PiS toward all our institutions. They believe that we are on the road to changes and they fight for those changes in our country.
Being at the marches and talking to participants, I realize how very important it is that so many young women and young men are actively taking part because they will soon get the opportunity to vote at the next parliamentary elections [in fall 2023]. They say that they will vote but not for PiS.
The protesters often chant slogans directed against Jarosław Kaczyński [PiS’s de facto leader and far-right strongman] and Przemysław Czarnek, education minister. However, the demonstrators aren’t receiving any organizational help from any opposition parties, even as their leaders publicly declare their support and some opposition politicians – like yourself – are taking part in the strikes. How do you explain it?
Civic Platform and other opposition parties along with Szymon Hołownia [former 2020 presidential candidate] have supported the cause. Members of my political group and from others like Lewica (The Left), Nowoczesna (Modern) and Partia Zieloni (The Greens) parties are taking part in the strikes. I want to point that the strikes are citizens’ protests, organized by different women, who are not members of parties. The same is with young people taking part in the protests. They are all critical of the PiS government and its policies. They want liberty and independent laws in all aspects. They present a strong desire for civilizational changes, rejecting outdated ideas of PiS. The strike began as a social protest, organized separately by different women. The first reason was to protest against the abortion ruling by the PiS-controlled so-called Constitutional Tribunal. But as sloganeering got stronger and the demonstrators were called illegal by the government besides being brutally attacked by police, the developments turned political. Protestors created a so-called Consultative Council of the Polish women’s strike, open to everybody, managed by Marta Lempart, a courageous feminist and an active leader of the marches. In the council, there are many specialists including Klementyna Suchanow, Polish author, and Barbara Labuda, an activist well-known for the democratic opposition in Communist Poland. Labuda was an MP after the fall of communism in Poland and has fought for liberal abortion for years. The Council is working on aggregating the demands of the protests, providing women assistance and holding the government accountable for police brutality. But the Council is non-political. It represents the rebellion of so many Poles with their often different personal views on certain matters. They are united against the authoritarian policies of PiS.
How do you assess the influence of women strikes on the whole political scene?
I am convinced that organized in all of Poland, the protests are changing our approach to people in government. The campaigns have led to different views on the situation of women and present a different approach to other important problems of social life. They open the road to a changing political scene. Poles are now more aware of the situation in various groups of society – pensioners, economists, laborers, artists, teachers, academics, people working and living in different places, having different material status and different lifestyle. There are varied groups – religious and open-minded, conservative and liberal. But all of them want the rule of law back in our country. They want honesty in politics, not the force and arrogance of authoritarian rule adopted by PiS.
I want to underline the challenge faced by outdated rules in our society. People protesting on the streets often get emotional. Sometimes they shout their slogans loudly. The protests also represent the hope of younger generations. Young women know that in Western Europe, even the conservative governments that respect the rule of law, treat abortion liberally. So, they demand the same in Poland. In my opinion, all these changes currently taking place in our society ignored by PiS will eventually lead to PiS’s defeat in the next parliamentary election.
Do you think that the leaders of opposition parties are ready to use effective language to convince Poles and be understood by them?
I hope so. Our society is awakening to democratic and modern changes. Strajk Kobiet presents wise and determined women. Let’s not forget that Poland was among the first countries to achieve women’s suffrage in November 1918, even before women in the UK, the US and France. In our difficult history, women fought for freedom and democracy. They are now in the first line for changes and freedom in our country. It is very important now that the leaders of democratic opposition parties analyze the character of these protests. The participants have different views on some matters like attitude toward the church and religion, even regarding the details liberalizing abortion. However, they have been cooperating to reject PiS’s unlawful and authoritarian regime. The slogans are all targeted at PiS, to weaken them. And now that PiS suffers from infighting and instability due to internal conflict within their coalition, it’s time to strengthen opposition parties. 2021 will be the time of changes and difficult new problems in the economy, trade, international relations, and human life. They demand from societies and politicians a new attitude to shape life in all fields. So Poles have huge tasks ahead.
Barbara Nowacka – a Polish MP and a pro-choice activist – states on her Twitter profile that she is a feminist and a mother. She heads the Inicjatywa Polska (iPL) political party. In the parliamentary elections in 2019, iPL ran as part of the Civic Coalition (KO) – the largest opposition electoral alliance in Poland.
