Argentinian Women in the Fight for Abortion: A Photographic Diary
by: Luisa Magdalena , May 23, 2019
by: Luisa Magdalena , May 23, 2019
In Argentina, a woman is killed every 30 hours. It matters neither what her age is nor her social class. Simply by being a woman, transgender or non-binary, you and your body are at risk here. In Argentina, we do not have the right to our own bodies: abortion is still illegal. One risks being thrown in jail for claiming sovereignty over one’s own body, so each year women die due to unsafe and clandestine procedures.
The women I have captured on camera here are tired of being told what they can and cannot do. They are tired of living within the confines of a patriarchal society that denigrates them. They are tired of being raped and told they should wear more ‘respectful attire’. They are tired of being told what it means to be a ‘good’ woman. They are tired of being harassed on the street and disrespected and tired of being subjected to horrific levels of violence. These women take to the streets to say that they have had enough.
These women want to tell the world that these are our bodies and our choices. We ask to be listened to and to be respected. Our lives, our desire and our decisions matter. These women are calling for radical social change. They cannot and will not wait any longer.
In these photographs, I have captured anger and suffering, but I have also paid witness to love, desire, sisterhood, strength and happiness in collectivity.
In solidarity,
Luisa Magdalena.
San Antonio de Areco, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
WHO SUPPORTS US
The team of MAI supporters and contributors is always expanding. We’re honoured to have a specialist collective of editors, whose enthusiasm & talent gave birth to MAI.
However, to turn our MAI dream into reality, we also relied on assistance from high-quality experts in web design, development and photography. Here we’d like to acknowledge their hard work and commitment to the feminist cause. Our feminist ‘thank you’ goes to:
Dots+Circles – a digital agency determined to make a difference, who’ve designed and built our MAI website. Their continuous support became a digital catalyst to our idealistic project.
Guy Martin – an award-winning and widely published British photographer who’s kindly agreed to share his images with our readers
Chandler Jernigan – a talented young American photographer whose portraits hugely enriched the visuals of MAI website
Matt Gillespie – a gifted professional British photographer who with no hesitation gave us permission to use some of his work
Julia Carbonell – an emerging Spanish photographer whose sharp outlook at contemporary women grasped our feminist attention
Ana Pedreira – a self-taught Portuguese photographer whose imagery from women protests beams with feminist aura
And other photographers whose images have been reproduced here: Cezanne Ali, Les Anderson, Mike Wilson, Annie Spratt, Cristian Newman, Peter Hershey