The female jailed leaders, the ‘forgotten’ ones

Alcalá-Meco is the name of one of the prisons with pro-independence Catalan leaders. But it does not attract as much media attention as Estremera, where most of the jailed officials are.

In Estremera, all of them are men, but… does that mean that the politicians behind bars are only men? While media coverage and protests might sometimes imply that, it is not the case. And the women in pre-trial prison in Alcalá-Meco, Carme Forcadell, and Dolors Bassa, have stood up against this misconception. 

Carme Forcadell, the former Catalan Parliament speaker, and Dolors Bassa, deposed work minister, have been in the female Alcalá-Meco prison for two months now. Forcadell also spent a night there last November, while Bassa also slept there for one month last autumn, along with deposed minister Meritxell Borràs. Four other female politicians are also abroad, taking refuge from the Spanish judiciary. These include Esquerra party leader Marta Rovira, deposed ministers Clara Ponsatí and Meritxell Serret, and former CUP MP Anna Gabriel.

Women "always silenced, forgotten or mentioned as an afterthought"

Both Bassa and Forcadell are demanding to be on equal footing with their male colleagues in terms of recognition. And they are not alone. More than 250 pro-independence supporters gathered on Wednesday in an event whose motto was ‘No woman forgotten’ to remember them all. The host organization, Women for the Republic, denounces that “as women, they always end up being silenced, forgotten or mentioned as an afterthought” when the jailed leaders’ topic is tackled. They believe they are suffering from “double discrimination” – this, they claim, is because they are women and pro-independence campaigners.