Carme Forcadell's “feminist revolution” in prison

Former speaker, Carme Forcadell, gets plenty of visits in the Mas d'Enric prison where she is waiting to stand trial charged with rebellion. Yet most of them are never made public, as Forcadell has no interest in occupying the media limelight.

However, 10 months since she was sent to pre-trial prison for allowing votes on independence in the Parliament, she spoke to the Catalan News Agency (ACN) about her aspiration to "empower" the 32 women with whom she shares a cell block.

During her time behind bars, Forcadell has focused on feminism, encouraging the other inmates to reflect on their role as women, to the point that the women have now organized themselves with a system of representatives to defend their rights.

The former speaker has brought politics into the prison, and she has done so with the aim of ending male sexism. "We will carry out the feminist revolution from here," she says, adding that she is "looking forward" to her trial, so that she can "move on" with her life.

Calm, confident and with a sense of humor

Forcadell is calm and talks confidently with a sense of humor, and she remains firm in her convictions that saw her sent to prison. She wears a small yellow rose, the symbol of solidarity with the jailed pro-independence leaders. "I always wear it in here," she says.

The Mas d'Enric prison has almost 800 inmates, but only 33 of them are women. "The prison is a reflection of society. As society is sexist, so is prison. Everything is designed for men," she says, and it was this realization the led her to carry out her small "feminist revolution."

She spends some of her time in prison talking to the other female inmates, which has shown her that "many of them would never have been sent here and would not be like they are had they had an opportunity in their lives."

As soon as she entered the prison, Forcadell noticed that the women inmates were treated differently. They could not shower after doing sport, because the timetable was not compatible with that of the men. They had no hair dryers. None of the positions of responsibility held by inmates for work details were taken by women. "That has now ended," she says smiling, "I am empowering all of the women."

Committees to lobby for improvements

Forcadell achieved this change with a basic political mechanism. With some of the inmates, and the support of the management, she set up three committees to lobby for improvements, and to make the women feel that they can do something to change their situation.

She convinced three inmates to lead a group each and organized an election to choose "a delegate" to present their demands to the management. "Next week we will meet and vote," she says, adding that she has her favourite, who she is "campaigning" for.