Hundreds of protesters rally in Belgrade on Women’s Day
By Nikolija Simić (2021/0267), 8th of March, 2019
Belgrade
A group of female activists covered monuments of men in Belgrade yesterday, on
the 8th of March,2019, as a sign of protest against patriarchy. The protest was
organized by The Feminist Association Movement.
The Feminist Association Movement was founded 3 years ago by a group of three
prominent women – Lena Vitich, a researcher at the Institute of Technology,
Marija Savich, a scientist at the Biology Institute and Anka Ilitch, a professor of
Liberal Arts at the University of Belgrade. This group officially began their work as
a trio, and over time more members followed, as interest in women’s rights in
Serbia grew. “Yes, we are angry. That’s why we’re protesting today. How long
have we been oppressed? How long until another woman loses her job or her
life?”, said one member of the movement when asked what is the general feeling.
The women began their protest at 12 PM. They walked down the street of Knez
Mihailova, while holding signs with slogans against patriarchy. One of the slogans
read: “No justice no peace”. The activists then proceeded to The Kalemegdan
Park, the largest park in the city. “There were women of all ages there. They
bravely covered all the monuments, demonstrating that they’re not afraid of what
the people or the government might think”, said Ana Marich, who was a
bystander at the time.
The activists then returned to the Prince Mihailo monument, at exactly 3 PM, and
covered it with an apron that read: “Glass ceilings are meant to be broken”. This
was their final act of protest. Police was informed at 3:15 PM and arrived at 3:30
PM. The policemen soon broke up the protest. “This was expected. But our fight is
not done. We will fight as long as we live, for all those girls and women that need
us”, concluded Anka.
