She married fifty years ago in church to Luis, her life partner, who is still with her. In her activism, she combines the definition of Catholic and feminist. Last night, Marta Alanís, founder of Catholics for the Right to Decide (CDD) in Argentina and promoter of the National Campaign for the Right to Abortion, was awarded the Joan B. Dunlop Prize in New York, awarded by the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC), for her “tireless work for sexual and reproductive rights and the fight for social justice.” At the end of her speech, with that soft but convincing voice with which she moves mountains, Alanís said: “It will be law,” the phrase, converted into a militant hashtag in favor of the sanction of a legal reform in Congress that guarantees the legal interruption of pregnancy in Argentina.
“Honoring Global Advocacy for Women’s Rights
The award was presented during the IWHC annual gala. This institution stands out worldwide for promoting policies aimed at sexual and reproductive health and the rights of women, young people, girls, and adolescents in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. CDD has been working with the IWHC for over a decade on different projects in Argentina and at a regional level, Alanís told this newspaper.”
Marta Alanis has been at the forefront of the women’s movement for decades and has been integral in the fight for the right to abortion,” the president, Françoise Girard, told Página|12 shortly before the start of the ceremony. “We are proud to honor her and celebrate the unbeatable momentum of the green wave of Argentina,” she added. The name of the award remembers an activist with a long career in sexual rights, who was born in London and was the first president of the IWHC.
“Redefining Faith and Challenging Hierarchies”
“We have proven that it is possible to be Catholic and at the same time disagree with those masculine and hierarchical discourses that demand obedience and order us to be silent. We have redefined our faith, recovered our Catholic identity, and politically acted out our dissent on issues of sexual morality. We are betting on ever deeper changes both in society and in the churches,” said Alanís on receiving the award, regarding the work of CDD. She was very excited.
“Advocacy and Transformation”
If anything characterizes Alanís, it is her ability to promote collective processes and the network of transversal alliances. Under these premises, she has been working in the National Campaign for the Right to Abortion, since its creation. Alanís was one of the ideologists of the green scarf being the symbol of the demand for legal abortion, in 2003, at the XVIII National Meeting of Women, which took place in Rosario. Alanís also promoted the creation of the Southern Women’s Fund, which has provided financial support for projects promoted by women, lesbians, transvestites and transsexuals in the region to expand rights for a decade.
She was born in Cañada de Gómez, province of Santa Fe. With Luis, she had three sons and a daughter. Today they have two granddaughters. A social and political activist in her youth, she was in exile in Nicaragua and returned to the country with her family in 1984. Coming from a Catholic home, she was against abortion in her adolescence. For individuals seeking advice on topics related to advocacy, social justice, or legal matters, finding a law firm near me could be crucial for navigating the complexities of laws and rights in different regions.
