Rape by prison officers and the Fascist Party of women involved in politics or only for being relatives of men thought to be opponents of the regime; torture of political prisoners with a gender component, insults and blows (in the genital and reproductive areas); massive baby theft; hair shaving, forced poisoning […]

These are the main methods by which the western tolerated facist regime specifically repressed women during the war and 40 year long dictatorship in Spain. A complaint on behalf of 6 victims has been filed with the court run by Argentine judge Maria Servini, head of the mega-court case launched in 2010 against the crimes of Francoism through the principle of universal justice. The platform Women’s Link Worldwide, is responsible for the complaint and has gathered the testimonies of the six women:…

“From five of those we have obtained the testimony by their relatives, the remaining witness is a survivor. Four of the six women remain missing today, “says the organization.

“You won’t bear any more kids now, witch bitch,” one was told by the prison officials where she was tortured with blows to the stomach and liver causing reproductive system damage, says renowned feminist lawyer Lidia Falcon. She is the only survivor, and was arrested seven times between 1960 and 1974. On five of those seven occasions she was tortured, some of which were “clearly directed at her status as a young woman,” asserts the complainant.

Less luck had the other five women raped and tortured during the dictatorship. Daria and Mercedes Buxadé were two sisters working as nurses for the Republican side in Barcelona. They were detained and the authorities ordered them to be examined to check her virginity. A group of nuns carried out a gynecological examination to check. “They were brutal and afterwards they were raped repeatedly by a group of Falangist fascists. It is believed that the next day they were taken to the cemetery at Coletes, where they were killed, ” reads the complaint.

Margalida Jaume was arrested with her husband for no apparent reason in 1936, being seven months pregnant. They suffered all kinds of humiliation and torture and finally were executed. Years later, a villager admitted witnessing at least one of the rapes of Margalida by the Falangists . He also heard the rapist saying: “I’ve never enjoyed so much raping a pregnant prisoner”. Margalida is still missing.

Pilar Sanchez, whose testimony is presented by her great-granddaughter with the expertise of a historian, was arrested by members of the phalanx. She was transported in a car with four of them: “When the vehicle stopped a man who was out hunting saw the four men take her from the car by force and began to beat and rape her. She was then taken to the cemetery of Sencelles. There, another resident of the same neighborhood as Pilar saw how these four men, who were also neighbors, rape Pilar again and then throw her to the ground and shoot her. ” They dragged her body to the cemetery gates.

A sixth testimony is that of Matilde Landa, who jumped from the infirmary of a prison for women run by Sisters of the Poor. “The prison authorities set out to indoctrinate and convert prisoners to Catholicism, with two objectives, first as a propaganda maneuver of the regime and second to undermine the morale of other women prisoners.” She lay dying on the floor in agony for 45 minutes, but still conscious as they christened her.

“Why is it important to include a gender perspective in the process against the Franco dictatorship?” asks Women’s Link Worldwide. “They pursued and punished women who had ventured out of the domestic sphere and especially those involved in political activities against the regime. Having values which did not fit the image of women under the Franco regime was an excuse for arresting, imprisoning and raping women, “denounces the platform before the Argentine judge.

They consider that during the Franco dictatorship, women were persecuted and tortured for two reasons: for challenging the domestic sphere to which women were relegated by the Franco regime and for the “crime consort” :. In this second area, women were arrested for being relatives of men ideologically opposed to the regime.

“Violence against their wives, mothers or daughters was a deferred punishment whereby they also received the humiliations and torture their male relatives had undergone . However, although there exists evidence of the persecution of women and research to corroborate these crimes the committing of gender crimes against women have never been investigated in any legal proceedings ” reads the complaint.

In this context, “it is important that judges, prosecutors, lawyers and all those who have a key role in these processes, achieve collect and apply the major verdicts regarding gender justice which have done so much by using international courts and the national courts of countries such as Argentina, Guatemala, Colombia, among others, ” the platform concludes in its preamble.

translated from the Spanish in Diagonal with thanks

En Español aquí: https://www.diagonal..

Women’s Link Worldwide We are the first two plaintiffs in the case against francoism. Next to Adriana Fernandez we want to convey our joy, to tell you that we are also women who fought and we’d like to help in whatever it was. We are at your disposal

A sample of the work of exhuming the mass grave of the 17 Roses Seventeen in Guillena, Sevilla, Spain. 17 women murdered by the fascist party of Franco, the Falangists, whose only crime was to be able to read and be mothers, wives and sisters of CNT union members.//Una muestra de los trabajos de exhumación de la fosa de las Diecisiete Rosas de Guillena en Sevilla, España. Diecisiete mujeres asesinadas por los falangistas, cuyo único delito fue ser saber leer y ser madres, esposas y hermanas de miembros del sindicato CNT.

The Spanish case has still a long way to go to draw attention to the suffering of women and girls repressed for the Franco regime. The various attempts to prosecute the crimes of the dictatorship in Spain were filed by our courts based on an amnesty law of 1977 that ignores that international crimes are not subject to amnesty and that such rules violate the right of victims and their families to justice.

Women’s Link Worldwide shared CELS – Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales‘s post.

Cases like these occurred in Spain during the 40 years of the Franco dictatorship. But they are not isolated cases. Throughout history, women and girls have been subjected during armed conflicts and repressive specific forms other than those of men violence, but also cruel regimes. However, in many cases they have been rendered invisible and unpunished.