They want to be heard so as not to have to go out to bars and nightclubs without fear of falling into an ambush. Several hundred people gathered on Friday evening, November 12, in Brussels, echoing the #balancetonbar movement triggered in Belgium by the revelation of several cases of attacks on women in bars in a student district of the capital. Some suspect their alleged abuser, bartender or staff member, of having drugged them without their knowledge before taking action.
Faced with the inaction of the targeted sector, the collective Self-managed Inclusive Feminist Union (UFIA) calls for an evening of boycott of bars and nightclubs. “Bar bosses, do we really need to attack your wallets to make our voice heard? “, launched at the microphone Maité, one of the organizers, in front of the audience gathered in the center of the Belgian capital.
She welcomed the “Freedom of speech”, faced with the wave of testimonials published on Instagram for a month, and the scale of the movement, which has spread to France, and also affects the United Kingdom. “There are enough of the bar bosses who say “We didn’t know” “, denounced the French feminist activist Anna Toumazoff, present at the rally.
“Identify, file and sanction”
“The bars to whom? Our bars », “Victim, we believe you!” Rapist, we see you! “chanted the demonstrators, mostly women, who carried signs calling for “Sound the death knell for patriarchy”.
“We are strong, we are proud, and feminists, and radical, and angry”, also sang the crowd between two public interventions. Several victims took the floor to recount their assault.
At the origin of the rally and the call for a boycott, the UFIA wrote to the mayors of the Brussels region. He demands in particular that the authorities can “Systematically identify, file and sanction problematic establishments and staff members” as soon as a report of sexual violence is provided to them.