Besa Luci in conversation with Marta Lempart and Shqipe Gjocaj.

In this episode we talk about how women across the globe are facing setbacks in their struggle for bodily autonomy.

One of the ways this is happening is in the banning or restricting of abortion access. In Poland, abortion has been banned since 2020. Though there are supposed to be exceptions in the case of rape, incest or when the health of the mother is endangered, a Polish pregnant woman recently died because doctors refused to perform an abortion that her family states would have saved her life. 

Abortion rights are being restricted in the U.S. as well. Last year the Supreme Court overruled Roe v Wade, the ruling protecting the right abortion. As a result, 18 states have now banned or restricted abortion, with many other states looking to follow suit.

And there are cases when abortion is legal, but practically inaccessible. In Croatia, for example, abortion is expensive and doctors often refuse to perform it. In other countries, like Kosovo and Serbia, abortion is legal and largely accessible, but there is still a deep taboo and shame about discussing the common procedure openly and without shame.

It's not just abortion where women are facing setbacks. In Kosovo, a draft law on Reproductive Health and Assisted Fertility came up for a vote in the Assembly recently. During the debate on the Assembly floor, one deputy said that assisted fertility is a threat to the family as it would allow unmarried women to have children. This comment was unwelcome to deputy Saranda Bogujevci, who declared that women must always be in control of their own choices about pregnancy. In response, Bogujevci faced a wave of sexist statements, both in the Assembly and online.

Beyond these specific cases, women’s bodily integrity continues to be threatened, as shown by the prevalence of sexual harassment, rape, abuse, and femicide across the world. Women are constantly judged on the basis of their looks, their sexual activity, their clothing and their choices. Women's autonomy, it seems, is still up for debate, and the ones debating it are men.

Marta Lempart and Shqipe Gjocaj joined us in this episode to discuss the topics of women's rights and bodily autonomy, as well as the ways some governments are clamping down on women's liberties.

Marta Lempart is a Polish women’s rights activist and founder of the Polish Women’s Strike.  

Shqipe Gjocaj is a feminist activist, gender specialist, and independent journalist from Kosovo. 

Other Talking Points is produced by Besa Luci, Aulonë Kadriu and Gentiana Paçarizi. 

Music and sound mix by PUG musik.

This podcast is part of the Human Rightivism project, which is funded by the Embassy of Sweden in Prishtina, implemented by the Community Development Fund through its Human Rightivism Program. The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the Embassy of Sweden in Prishtina.