Across Poland red flares lit up the night as crowds carrying the lightning-bolt symbol of the Women’s Strike filled the streets. Chants against the Catholic Church and the then-ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party echoed across the country - defining images of outrage over a near-total abortion ban.
The protests erupted after the Constitutional Tribunal, led by Julia Przyłębska, ruled in October 2020 that abortions in cases of severe and irreversible foetal defects were unconstitutional - effectively outlawing almost all terminations. The slogan “Piekło kobiet” (“Women’s Hell”) became a rallying cry against what many saw as one of Europe’s harshest abortion laws.
The fifth anniversary of nationwide protests in Poland, triggered by one of Europe’s strictest constitutional court rulings on abortion, prompts bitter reflection among women’s rights activists – what has changed since the conservative PiS government left power?
Five years on, the conservative PiS government is gone, replaced by a pro-European coalition led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Yet women’s rights activists say little has changed: despite campaign promises, the same restrictive laws imposed under Przyłębska’s court remain in place.
Poland’s feminist activists call on PM Tusk to stand with women
The Women’s Strike movement - which five years ago mobilised tens of thousands of women outraged by PiS-backed restrictions - has now appealed directly to the prime minister.
“There is still time to stand on the side of women,” one activist said in a video message to Donald Tusk.
“Not everything is lost, though time is running out - and the continuation of democratic rule in Poland is far from guaranteed,” she added, wishing him "the courage we had - marching through Polish cities in jeans and sneakers, facing PiS police armed to the teeth.”
Ordo Iuris under scrutiny: how Russian links impact Polish women’s freedoms
Klementyna Suchanow - a Polish writer, journalist and long-time activist - has been even more outspoken.
She has spent years investigating Ordo Iuris, a powerful ultra-conservative legal organisation that campaigns against abortion and LGBTQ+ rights in Poland, and which she claims has links to Russian networks of influence.
“The impunity of this wealthy, well-connected group is an act of staggering recklessness by the Polish authorities, especially in the midst of a hybrid war with Russia,” Suchanow said, arguing that Ordo Iuris plays a key role in restricting Polish women’s access to abortion.
“When will Poland finally cut those Russian tentacles?” she asked.
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Source: Radio Poland/The Women’s Strike movement
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