The RESIST Project Report. Effects of, and Resistances to 'Anti-Gender' Mobilisations Across Europe: A Report on Spain – Catalonia and Basque Country
- 1. Universitat de Barcelona
-
2.
Pompeu Fabra University
Contributors
Research group:
- 1. RESIST: Fostering Queer Feminist Intersectional Resistances against Transnational Anti-Gender Politics
Description
This case study report explores the lived experience of encountering ‘anti-gender’ politics, and analyses everyday resistances in Spain, specifically in Catalonia and the Basque Country. It outlines how 33 feminist academics, activists, public intellectuals and members of the general public experience, negotiate, and resist attacks related to their identities, lives, politics, and work in the arena of sexualities and genders. The report is written from the findings of 4 focus groups—with 21 participants, between 3 and 8 in each group—and 12 individual interviews with people who are based in Catalonia and the Basque country. They responded to the invitation to participate in focus groups or interviews because they experienced some form of ‘anti-gender effects’. The sample was recruited via targeted emails and phone calls to individuals and groups that may be affected
Abstract (English)
In recent years, Spain has seen notable progress in feminist and LGBTI rights. Key legislative initiatives include the ‘Trans Law’, aimed at guaranteeing transgender rights, and the ‘Solo Sí Es Sí’ law, which redefines sexual consent to emphasise explicit agreement. Despite these advancements, persistent challenges remain. The rise of the far-right, with its Spanish nationalist, anti-immigration, anti-feminist, anti-LGBTI stance, has complicated the socio-political landscape. This report focuses on the experiences of those affected by 'anti-gender' revealing the pervasive impact of 'anti-gender' politics. It is based on 33 participants who participated in twelve interviews and/or four focus groups. The political nature of 'anti-gender' attacks is identified as being deliberate and purposefully directed towards achieving political ends, such as asserting ideological beliefs and halting or reversing feminist or LGBTI-affirmative policies. This political violence is experienced as collective and as using violence and fear to achieve political objectives. It heavily affects public or visible feminist figures but also has a profound impact on society, especially those in marginalised positions. This highlights a continuum of violence and discrimination, which is intersected by racism, national minorisation, and fatphobia. Such attacks are characterised by being aggressive and are present both on and offline. 'Anti-gender' violence fosters a climate of fear, demobilisation, and withdrawal from public and online spaces, leading to an emotional toll and significant changes in behaviour, including the abandonment of activist
spaces, self-censorship, and the creation of protective bubbles that, whilst offering safety, isolate activists from broader societal engagement. The forms of active resistance span from boycotts of specific campaigns to digital protection strategies; from
monitoring of 'anti-gender' politics and documenting attacks to initiating dialogue with the aim of convincing potential 'anti-gender' actors. Despite this climate of fear and attacks, some public figures remain committed and use their influence to resist and persist, using their influence as a reason to continue fighting.
Series information (English)
Part of the: Deliverables of the RESIST Project (EU Project ID: 101060749). Output ID: “D2.1: Report on the effects and everyday resistances to anti-gender mobilisations”.
Files
RESIST-Listen-Case-Study-Findings_SpainEnglish.pdf
Files
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Additional details
Related works
- Is part of
- Report: 10.5281/zenodo.11180744 (DOI)