PES Women president Zita Gurmai’s speech at the 125th anniversary of Demarinaiset
Dear comrades, dear friends, dear President Helena,
It is a true honour to be with you today in Helsinki to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Demarinaiset, the Social Democratic Women of Finland.
125 years. What an incredible milestone. 125 years of courage, solidarity, feminist struggle; years of women who refused to be silent, and above all, of fighting for a fairer society for women, and for all.
Let me begin by congratulating you, Demarinaiset, for your unwavering commitment to gender equality, to workers’ rights, and to social democracy.
As we look back, we see women who gathered in 1900 to found the Women Workers’ Union, at a time when women still had no vote, no voice, and most of society wanted them to stay invisible. And yet, they organised. Already in the 1905 Great Strike, they raised their voices and demanded equality. They claimed their place in public and political life.
In 1906, Finnish women became the first in Europe (and in the world) to gain full political rights (to vote & be elected), thanks to the Social Democrats’ demand for universal suffrage without property conditions.
Your history is not only Finnish history, it is also a European feminist history that we are very proud.
And Finland remains today a country with a proud feminist tradition, one that has inspired generations across Europe and the world !
But as we honour your legacy, we must also recognise the challenges we face today : where are we now? What is at stake today? Because we know: rights are never guaranteed.
Across the world today, we see a dangerous backlash against women’s rights and gender equality, which we witness on a daily basis.
In Afghanistan under the Taliban’s regime, millions of young women are deprived of education and confined to their homes, in what has been called “gender apartheid.”
In the United States under Trump, women’s reproductive rights have been rolled back.
In Europe, a continent often seen as in the forefront on gender equality, we see persisting violence against women and gender pay gap, more organised and well-financed political attacks on LGBTQ+ and feminist movements, against what they call the “gender ideology”. At the European Parliament, fundings for NGO’s are under pressure, because the extreme right, with EPP’s support, are trying to cut them. Even the President of the EU Commission UVDL doesn’t take gender equality as a core priority, as a few days ago, during her state of the Union address, she didn’t even mention it once.
A few months ago, a report by the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights revealed that anti-gender movements across Europe have raised over one billion dollars in the past five years. These groups use the money to attack abortion rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and sex education. They are investing heavily in social media, particularly targeting young people on TikTok, spreading misogynistic content and framing the idea that women have already gained “too many rights.”
And everywhere, the far right is on the rise, using anti-feminism as part of its strategy to divide, to control, and to weaken democracy. And when the far right attacks women, it is not only about women. It is about power.
So yes, the challenges are real, global, European, and national. And even here in Finland, a country rightly admired for its achievements in gender equality, we see these challenges too.
Finland still ranks among the leaders in equality. Women are highly visible in politics, in trade unions, in public life. You have had women prime ministers like the youngest in the world Sanna Marin, and thanks for her hard work, Finland also joined NATO. And I can’t forget to mention Utta Urpilainen, who was a European Commissioner, deputy prime minister, and party leader, with whom we had great collaboration at PES Women.
But right now, this progress is under threat.
The current right-wing government is pursuing austerity, welfare cuts, and restrictive migration policies. And as always, it is women who pay the highest price: Single parents, most of them women, face new struggles ; Cuts to welfare and municipal services; Migrant and minority women encounter even greater barriers, And we hear more and more anti-feminist rhetoric entering the mainstream.
This is a worrying moment, when Finland risks moving backwards.
But we are with you, and we are in this together, all social democratic women across Europe in PES Women, because our struggles are the same. What happens in Finland matters to all of us. That is why feminist European solidarity is so vital. We need to be more vocal.
{And by the way, we are proud to count you among our most active and inspiring members. I especially want to thank Emmi Lintonen, your representative on our PES Women Board, for her strong contribution, and wish her all the best in her candidacy as Vice-President for the Nordic countries.}
Together, we will continue to fight for:
-Closing the EU gender pay gap (12.7%) and pension gap (26% in the EU).
-Protecting and expanding sexual and reproductive rights which are absolutely endangered.
-Ending gender-based violence.
-Valuing care and building a feminist economy.
-Ensuring women’s full participation in politics and decision-making.
-Advancing intersectional policies that include all women no matter their background.
We fight not just for equality on paper, but for equality in everyday life, at work, at home, in politics, and in society.
Friends, the story of Demarinaiset is a story of strength. Of women who organised, resisted, and achieved what seemed for others the impossible. You build on 125 years of resilience. And I know you will continue for 50, 100 years more, until equality becomes a lived reality for all women, but we also need men supporters like Antti Lindtman with us in this.
Let us remember: feminism is not only about struggle. It is also about joy, about sisterhood, about hope. And when we come together as we do today, we know we are unstoppable.
Happy anniversary, Demarinaiset. Let’s continue the fight together.
Kiitos. Tack. Thank you.
Zita Gurmai
President of PES Women
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