#NiUnaMenos.

An interview with the journalist Paula

Rodríguez.
Written feverishly in only eight weeks and released just a few months after 2015’s
groundbreaking #NiUnaMenos protest, journalist Paula Rodríguez reconstructed in her
book the ins and outs of that historic event, meeting the organizers, supporters and the
families of victims of gender violence.
How did you first approach such a complex issue as #NiUnaMenos, and how
did you choose your interviewees for the book, taking into account the fact that it
involved so many sectors of society?
As it’s a book of testimonials and all the interviewees speak for themselves, I chose
to go in concentric circles. The first circle was the smallest one — I interviewed the 20
original organizers of the #NiUnaMenos protest. My aim was to reconstruct, minute by
minute, how an informal conversation on Twitter became such a mass initiative. I also
wanted to understand how individuals so different joined together in only three weeks to
become politically involved.
Has the judiciary’s approach to domestic violence cases changed in some
way?
There is a big misunderstanding regarding gender violence. These problems are not
solved only by reporting them to the police or by a punitive response from the judicial
system. Around the victims of male violence there are many factors to take into account,
such as where these women live, how they feed their kids, where they live, if they have a
job, if they receive some sort of psychological assistance. Saying, “Go to the police and
report what happened to you,” is simplistic, as well as dangerous, as many experts told
me during my research.
In such a mass movement there have been different demands from the
different organizations behind #NiUnaMenos. How did you assess that?
What happens with #NiUnaMenos is that it does not belong to any specific group.
There is no such thing. Maybe today there is a group in Río Grande (Tierra del Fuego)
calling for a protest. And the group calls itself “NiUnaMenos Río Grande.” Last year there
was a basic agreement that was not abstract at all. There were specific requests in the
statement that was read during the protest outside the National Congress. But then, every
city or small town or even every organization has claims for different reasons and they
organize different activities such as lectures and workshops. Last year, for example, the
organizers of the Rosario march called for abortion rights in their statement. And in Buenos
Aires they did not specifically mention that.
Why, for many people, is the #NiUnaMenos demonstration something that
involves women exclusively?
Yes, for many people #NiUnaMenos is only a women’s thing. Of course most of the
organizers are women, but there are also men involved and offering their support. There is
also this misogynistic idea that as there are many women behind (the organization of the
movement), there will be rows and arguments. When I listen to that I think “See what
happens, for example with the Argentine Football Association (AFA) these days” and then
tell me how you can hold such a point of view and say there are problems when only
women are involved.