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Crossing Continents: Poland: Behind the Black Protests

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Poland: Behind the Black Protests

05/01/2017

BBC Radio 4 - Crossing Continents, Poland: Behind the Black Protests

Women in Poland are angry with their government and with the Catholic church.

Women in Poland are angry. They are taking to the streets in their millions to tell the government they have had enough. Maria Margaronis asks what lies behind the 'Black Protests'.

Thousands of women - and men - took to the streets in Poland recently in protest against attempts to ban all abortions-and the issue seems to have crystallised a growing unease with the country's move to the right and the power of the Catholic Church. 'We are not putting our umbrellas away' went one of the slogans as women stood in the pouring rain to voice their concerns. The size of the protest surprised even the participants; organised by the feminist movement, it attracted women and men from many different backgrounds. Where did this surge of activism come from? Some argue that the revolution that began with Solidarnosc in the 1980s ignored the needs and voices of Polish women. Communism may have been defeated, they say, but it's been replaced by a different kind of repression. Maria Margaronis investigates. Mark Savage producing.

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