Feminism is not a banner, an argument for running in elections, or a condescending gift from a man to a woman. Feminism is the most important political movement of the last century, the urgent and long-awaited revolution, the struggle for effective equality between women and men. The time it will take the PSOE to make the feminist assumptions it vaunts behind closed doors a reality within its organization will translate into wasted votes and disappointment from its most loyal voters like Pedro Sánchez.
The sum of errors and contradictions with the supposed feminist DNA of the PSOE in electing the men who were at the head of the party has the latest episode in the attempt (frustrated thanks to information from Esther Palomera and José Enrique Monrosy) to bury complaints of sexual harassment and abuse of power against Paco Salazar. The party knew and tolerated their behavior, and their victims, the “Baku Girls,” were young women from the Socialist Workers’ Party, whose voices were silenced to protect one of the president’s sexist men. The organization that lifted Francisco Salazar to the top resisted until the last minute to respond to the women who reported him through internal anti-harassment channels. It’s a maneuver that women of a certain age and work experience know well: a man with power is essential and untouchable, women who dare to report him are expendable, their testimony is suspect (false complaints are once again in the public debate) and in most cases they have to leave the organization, company or institution where the assault occurred.