Marta Lempart talks about her anger at doctors who portray themselves as victims of the Przyłęcka Tribunal ruling and regrets that she was too cautious in 2020, when she and other women appealed during the Women’s Strikes for doctors to behave decently and respect the reproductive rights women still had.

– The worst thing was that I gave in to the idea that we had to be cautious, because we had to be nice to the medical community, because it has power over us – Marta Lempart says in the interview. – I regret that very much, because if we had stated very clearly then what we expected [od lekarzy – przyp. red.], if I had not backed down then, perhaps the situation would be different. And now we have a situation where, every time someone dies, the medical community puts on a media performance about how badly it has it. And how it is the most aggrieved. Not the people who die, not their families, not those who survive by a miracle. No. Doctors have it worst. That is what their story is about – says the leader of the women’s movement in Poland.

Kinga Gęsicka-Biały referred to the referendum on access to legal abortion proposed, among others, by Szymon Hołownia.

– I told Szymon openly [Hołowni – przyp. red.] that I do not agree that some referendum should decide whether someone should continue a pregnancy or not – Kinga Gęsicka-Biały said. – The only referendum is in the bathroom, when I decide whether I want to carry the pregnancy to term or not, just as our colleague said in the Sejm – added the leader of Strajk Kobiet.

Both leaders invite people to the 14th Women’s Congress in Wrocław, the largest feminist event in Poland.

14th Women’s Congress in Wrocław

Programme:

SATURDAY 8 October 2022

  • 9:00–10:00 OPENING OF THE 14TH WOMEN’S CONGRESS Hosts: Renata Kim and Alina Makarczuk
  • 9:40 – Addresses by the Founding Mothers (Henryka Bochniarz, Magdalena Środa) 9:45 – Address by Wrocław Mayor Jacek Sutryk (host)
  • 9:55 – Address by Olga Tokarczuk
  • 10:00–14:00 PLENARY SESSIONS
  • 10:00 – KK Shadow Cabinet: Henryka Bochniarz, Małgorzata Fuszara, Agnieszka Holland, Monika Płatek, Magdalena Środa, Ewa Sufin-Jacquemart, Bogumiła Matuszewska. Launch of the campaign against “menstrual exclusion” – Dominika Kulczyk
  • 11:00 Women against wars and fighting for their rights in wartime: Halina Radacz, Agnieszka Graff, Marta Lempart, Justyna Wydrzyńska, Natalia Waloch, Joanna Kos-Krauze. Moderated by Katarzyna Kasia 12:00 – How can we break the stagnation of the Anthropocene? Hopes of ecofeminism: Sylwia Spurek, Beata Kowalska, Joanna Hańderek, Joanna Erbel, Karolina Kuszlewicz, Joanna Stolarek. Moderated by Paulina Januszewska 13:15 – Eulogy to women senators – Małgorzata Tkacz-Janik
  • 15:00–18:30 THEMATIC CENTRES

Economy and Equality Centre

  • 15:00–16:10 “Rebuilding Ukraine: Girls, don’t let yourselves be conned – be at the Round Table (after the war)!”
  • 16:15–17:20 “Is it only about what one is ‘entitled to’: equal pay and good practices in countries and companies”
  • 17:25–18:30 “Motherhood versus/and activity”

European Centre

  • 15:00–16:10 “Feminist foreign policy in the face of the war in Ukraine
  • 16:15–17:20 “Will the Green Deal change Europe?”
  • 17:25–18:30 “A new Union! European Year of Youth”

Centre: Our bodies, our lives!

  • 15:00–16:10 “(Eco)sex without violence”
  • 16:15–17:20 “The Tide. Postmenopausal zest for life”
  • 17:25–18:30 “We are all trans” Green Centre
  • 15:00–16:10 “Ecofeminist care as a political programme”
  • 16:15–17:20 “How can we consume less, but better for ourselves and the world?”
  • 17:25–18:30 “Gaia and its endangered biodiversity” Gender Centre
  • 15:00–16:10 “Feminism versus fascism”
  • 16:15–17:20 “Gender democracy” 17:25–18:30 “Beyond violence”

Rule of Law Centre

  • 15:00–16:10 “Lawyers – a new army for the rule of law”
  • 16:15–17:20 “Is Polish law women-friendly?”
  • 17:25–18:30 “Iustitia Girls”

Centre 1000

  • 15:00–16:00 “Being in the Church and what next?”
  • 16:15–17:30 “Whose culture is it?”
  • 17:45–19:00 “Post-masculinity. On patriarchy, Putinism and the necessary crossing of the fascist moment” Mothers’ Centre
  • 15:00–16:00 “Mothers who are strongwomen” 16:00–17:00 Independent mothers

20:00 – CONCERT

SUNDAY 9 October 2022

  • 14:00–16:00 PLENARY SESSIONS
  • 14:00. In search of women leaders: Izabela Leszczyna, Barbara Nowacka, Magdalena Biejat, Urszula Zielińska, Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus, Klaudia Jachira, Elżbieta Łukaciejewska, Katarzyna Lubnauer, Anita Kucharska-Dziedzic, Joanna Mucha, Jolanta Niezgodzka. Moderators: Katarzyna Kasia and Karolina Wigura
  • 15:00 Women’s Congress Manifesto “The Power Is Within Us”
  • 15:15 Women’s Congress Awards 15:30 Concert “My Mother Janis”
  • 9:00–13:00 THEMATIC CENTRES
  • Violence and Care Centre
    10:00–11:30 “War Rapes with Patriarchy in the Background. Source, Responsibility, Prevention”
  • 11:40–13:00 “Helping Is Legal – on Women’s Shoulders”
  • 10:00–13:00 Guest-ness. Polish-Ukrainian Round Table

Local Government Centre

  • 9:00–10:15 “Cities of Equal Rights – Gender, Money and Privileges”
  • 10:20–11:35 “Housing: A Right or a Commodity?”
  • 11:40–13:00 “A Big Change in a Small Municipality. Revolutions by Women Village Heads and Female Mayors”

New Generations Centre

  • 9:15–10:00 “What Could Our Great-Grandmothers Tell Cybergirls?”
  • 10:15–11:15 “Young Polish Women Have Power”
  • 11:30–13:00 “It’ll Be BIG – You’re Invited!”

Leadership Centre

  • 9:00–9:55 “Can Leadership Be Learned? Networking Women Leaders” 10:00–10:55 “Quotas and Women’s Leadership in Business”
  • 11:00–11:55 “Women Leaders in the Media: How Can We Increase Women’s ‘Visibility’?”
  • 12:05–13:05 Round Table of Women’s Organisations

Education Centre

  • 9:00–9:55 “Education for Change. Is Equality at School Possible?”
  • 10:00–10:55 “The School of Feminine Virtues and Other Hits”
  • 11:00–11:55 “Migration in Practice. Inclusive and Intercultural Education and the War in Ukraine” 12:00–13:00 “School in Depression”
    Centre “We Want Our Whole Lives!”
  • 9:30–10:30 “My Body, My Business – Tattoos, Body Shaming”
  • 10:35–11:30 “Motherhood and Feminism: What Next?”
  • 11:35–13:00 “What Turns Us On, What Excites Us: Post-pornography Explains the World to Us”
  • 13:05–13:20 “Availability of Gynaecological Services”
    Centre 1000
  • 8:30–10:30 Premiere of the film “This Is Not Talked About” (45 minutes) and discussion: “Disappearing Women, or Pregnancy in Times of Horror”
  • 10:45–12:15 “Work, Violence, Exclusion – What Is Happening in the Media?”
    Plenary hall:
  • 10:30–11:30 “I Don’t Want People at the Border to Die”
  • 11:45–12:45 “Abortion Stories. On Exclusion and (In)accessibility of Abortion in Poland.”