Catalina Ruiz-Navarro - Feminist activist and journalist from Latin America

Here are her three pieces of advice: 

• Find yourself a feminist friend and never compromise on investing in your friendships.

• Know when to take a break and be mindful of your mental health. 

• It is important to write about a topic where you feel confident and that you are passionate about. 

You are a feminist activist, writer and journalist. Can you tell us what sparked your interest towards that career path?

I grew up in a family with strong women figures. In 1919, my great-grandmother participated in one of the first strikes in Colombia that was organised by women. Feminist values were taught to me from an early age as I was raised by women who strongly believed in women’s rights. I thought that I was going to be a painter at some point since I studied Visual Arts and Philosophy, but then I became a columnist for the newspaper El Espectador. I asked myself how a 24-year-old could contribute to a newspaper dominated by men. This was in 2008, two years before abortion was legalised by the Constitutional Court in Colombia. Abortion was an everyday topic at that time, and as a young woman, I was in the middle of that discussion. So why not write about abortion rights? I could write about the topic confidently and make a contribution not only to the newspaper but to society too. Afterwards, I started working in communications for the NGO Women's Link Worldwide, which made the constitutional claim to change our abortion law. Ever since, I've been active both as a journalist who covers the feminist movement in Latin America and as an activist who is part of the movement. Mostly, I design communication strategies to talk about feminism to new audiences, more specifically young urban Latin American women.

What has helped you succeed in becoming a strong voice for feminism in Latin America?

Solid material conditions are the most important aspect to build a career as a writer. When I started working at the newspaper, I wasn't being paid for five years. I wouldn’t have been able to succeed without my mother working 24/7 to pay for college and my master’s degree as well as for my living in Bogota. You don’t just become a writer by being inspired, you still have to make a living. My mother was very supportive of my decision to study arts and philosophy, which was a great privilege. Another reason why I succeeded was my field of studies. The value of philosophy is learning how to structure a clear argument which is important for opinion journalism since it covers trending arguments in society. 

What does it mean to be a public feminist figure in Latin America in 2019? 

Today, it is easier to publicly engage in feminist affairs than it used to be, as there is an ever-growing feminist community in Latin America supporting each other. Social media has been instrumental in creating groups and connecting women that otherwise wouldn't know each other. But it is also a place where we receive hate. It is weird to say this as a journalist working from my apartment. The risk that I face cannot be compared to what human rights defenders are facing on the field, which in extreme cases can lead to rape and assassination. 

What are the main challenges that you are facing being active on social media? 

When I started writing publicly, I received a lot of sexist comments, hate speech and trolling. Endless discussions on whether I was pretty or looked like a man. I also received many rape and murder threats. I grew up in the 80s in Colombia, I was very privileged because I didn't have to experience violence near my family. However, I realized that these weren’t just virtual threats when I started noticing physical and psychological changes. My hair started falling off and I lost a lot of weight. I suffered from anxiety, depression and insomnia as a result of the online trolling. This led me to rethink my presence on social media, even though I should be able to say whatever I want without risking emotional damage for speaking out. My place in the movement is to bring feminist messages to new audiences over and over again which is very tiresome. Thankfully, it’s getting easier since there are more feminists nowadays, so I don't have to get into every fight on my own.

How do you handle failure and deal with setbacks? 

I have the support of a psychiatrist and psychologist, whom I visit regularly. This is important as I deal with anxiety and depression. Luckily, I am a freelancer so I can take a break if I need to. My mother and my husband are always supporting me. It is important that they understand what I do and know that I am passionate about it.

Another thing I say often is that feminism begins with a friend. I'm part of a collective that I co-founded with other young feminist women in Colombia which is called Viejas Verdes. We encourage women to wear a green handkerchief as a sign that they are aware of the issues of abortion and sexual and reproductive rights and to show other women that they are not alone in their concerns. Our collective is like a feminist friend to those women who cannot share their struggles with anyone else. Women have always been told that in order to be personally and professionally successful, they must have romantic relationships with men, even more so in Latin America. But success isn’t only about romantic relationships, it is also about having good friendships. By investing in our friendships, we can redefine our value.  

How do the demands of feminism differ between Latin America and Europe/Western countries? 

Violence is everywhere and statistics show that Latin America is more violent for women than other countries. Sexism here is more overt because in our cultures people say what they think out loud.  This can also be observed between different regions in Colombia. In the Caribbean where I come from, people are impulsive and say out loud what they think. On the other hand, in the Colombian mountains, people are much more reserved, they speak very quietly and don't tell you directly what they think. Sexism is more open in the Caribbean whereas in the mountains it is much more subtle, yet it is present in both places. 

Power inequality is a significant issue in Latin America and sexism is worse when it meets with an unequal distribution of power. When women have access to property and their own money, they can fight against sexism without losing everything because they have stood up for themselves. Women in Latin America mostly get access to power and money through a man. Girls in poor neighbourhoods understand that the only way to get out of their misery is to date an old, rich man. Feminists are often told they will never find true love, which is a very effective threat as love takes on a central place in the Latin American narrative. You are expected to be feminine and caring, to always dress sexy and put on makeup. The need to look and act feminine becomes even more evident with queer and non-binary women in Latin America. There are places where it doesn’t matter when everybody wears jeans and a sweater but here, simply having short hair as a woman means that you are lesbian. People are making assumptions on your personality based on the way you look. Thankfully, newer generations are challenging those social expectations and even in Latin America, those gender norms are being questioned.

You are also a member of The Advisory Council for the Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy. How does your field of work intersect with foreign policy? 

Colombia is a good example because of the peace process between the Colombian Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) which is central to everything in politics in Colombia. The Colombian feminist movement, in particular, was focusing all of its efforts on the peace process. Women and survivors of the war organized strategies for peacebuilding. But when the peace process came, women were excluded from it. As long as there is a civil war in Colombia, feminist concerns will not be implemented or even discussed, as other issues have priority. 

A feminist foreign policy with a focus on Colombia would end the war, because only then would feminist issues have the opportunity to be discussed. We need a feminist foreign policy since war disproportionately affects women. War is a very patriarchal and sexist way of dealing with problems.

What, in your opinion, does a feminist foreign policy that supports women on the ground include?

A feminist foreign policy should put the life of each individual at the centre of its efforts by putting an end to the exploitative practices of neo-colonialism. Such a foreign policy would correct inequalities between countries because a developing country is not simply poor because it is badly managed, but because it has a history of large-scale exploitation behind it. What feminists are advocating for should be the focus of all foreign policy efforts, because the fight against neoliberalism and sexism should not only be at the heart of foreign policy efforts in Latin America but in all regions of the world. As long as nothing changes elsewhere, nothing will happen here either. 

Colombia has been a headline in international news for a very long time due to its civil war. In 2016, a final ceasefire between FARC-EP and the representatives of the Colombian government was announced. What role did women play in the peace process and the referendum of November 2016?

One of the main arguments employed against the peace process was that it would impose a gender ideology upon all citizens. That it would lead to girls turning into boys and boys turning into girls.

This argument was passed along in Christian Evangelical churches and other religious groups that had an alliance with the Catholic church. People were tricked into believing that there was a supposed gender ideology in the peace treaty. As a result, families marched against the peace process to defend their kids. After that, the word gender had to be removed from the treaty. 

The feminist movement didn’t lose completely, but the peace treaty had to be reworded and many current issues couldn’t be mentioned anymore. Equal marriage had already been achieved and we were advancing in the rights of trans people. All of those processes were stopped because of the referendum. Up until that moment, religious groups weren’t considered political groups. This happened just before the election of Trump and Brexit, and opponents to the referendum had the same strategy as what we later saw in the US and the UK, by using arguments where all you can think is: “I'm not even going to counter-argue that because it's just too ridiculous”. 

The fear of a change in gender roles and the liberalisation of gender norms, but also homophobic and transphobic rhetoric were used as arguments against the peace process. Now people don’t want to talk about it anymore. The newly elected woman mayor of Bogota who is lesbian barely used the gender arguments because she was afraid it would be used against her. The referendum of November 2016 had a chilling effect on the gender discourse. It also showed us that we had been campaigning wrong. We had only spoken to people who had already been aware of these issues and had long been convinced by our arguments. Losing the referendum, alongside Trump’s rise and Brexit, were a wake-up call to change strategies. The strengthening of the political right is a trend that we see everywhere and it's by the book a misogynistic backlash which was bound to happen. But I have a lot of faith in the younger generations. Young feminists are much more demanding in their views than we were.

What advice would you give to a young woman looking to follow activist steps in Latin America?

It's important to find feminist allies. If you don't have a feminist girlfriend with whom you can advocate, you will feel lonely and frustrated. Secondly, it is important that you believe in yourself and your cause. Stay persistent in your demands. To protect yourself and others from hostility, it is all the more important to develop resistance strategies with other women. I hope that women will turn to feminism out of conviction at a young age, as was my case. Unfortunately, many women discover feminism only after becoming victims of sexism. That is why it is important to deal with feminism early on. The sooner you become a feminist, the sooner you will recognise the violence and be able to ally yourself with others. You will have someone to talk to and with whom you can organise to defend yourself. Neoliberal discourse on feminism is about choices. But I don't think that being able to choose is the ultimate goal. It's about using your knowledge and wanting something that benefits the greater good. Because if we’re going to be stuck in this individuality, we're not going to get anything done.

CV IN BRIEF

EDUCATION: ARTS AND PHILOSOPHY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BOGOTA

CAREER SO FAR: EL ESPECTADOR | CROMOS | WOMEN’S LINK WORLDWIDE | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF LATIN AMERICAN MAGAZINE VOLCÁNICA | ADVISORY BOARD CENTRE FOR FEMINIST FOREIGN POLICY

LANGUAGES SPOKEN: SPANISH, ENGLISH