Hashtags, discussion groups, archive pages… Algerian activists for women’s rights have found in social networks an effective tool to communicate, reach the interior of the country and, sometimes, mobilize for actions on the ground.

Federate, raise awareness, denounce: these are some of the advantages that social networks bring to the feminist movement in Algeria. Campaigns launched in recent years online, which have gone viral, have thus served as a springboard for action on the ground.

Like the #MeToo movement launched in 2017 to denounce sexual assault, in Algeria, the hashtag # We lost one of us, aimed at denouncing feminicides, has been at the top of trends in recent years. Over a thousand people have posted about it so far.

In the category of discussion groups, the group ” So that the mother retains custody of her children after her remarriage “, which has more than 6,300 members, pleads for the cancellation of Article 66 of the family code which withdraws the mother the right to custody of her children in the event of remarriage to a person unrelated to the child.

There is also documentation on Facebook through the Archives of women’s struggles in Algeria page, digital data contributed by Algerian feminists, and women’s collectives and associations.

While some of these initiatives have not managed to move from social networks to the field, others have managed to materialize, like the march organized on March 8, 2020, for women’s rights.

The experience of the “feminist square”

At the call launched on social networks, demonstrations were held in Algiers, Béjaïa, Bouira, Oran, Constantine, and many other cities to give back to this Women’s Day its militant meaning.

According to the feminists contacted by Middle East Eye, the march organized on March 8, 2020, in the middle of Hirak (a vast popular movement that led to the resignation of Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 2019 ), is “the most important after that of March 8, 1990”, because it has drained a strong mobilization in several cities of Algeria.

They believe that the 30 years that have passed since have seen this important date “lose its political meaning”. A campaign was therefore carried out on social networks under the hashtag “March 8 is not a party but a day for our rights”.

On videos posted on Facebook, women explained the meaning and importance of this day, lamenting that over the years, March 8 has lost its militant meaning and become a “party”.

A feminist from the wilaya of Tébessa explains, for example, in a video that it is time to reject the family code. “The family code in Algeria allows women to be minors all their lives. It’s time to say no to oppression and to those who want to silence women.»

They also recalled that achievements had been made and that the fight continued, in particular for the reform of the family code. Videos made by feminists as part of the “March 8 is not a holiday but a day for our rights” campaign has been shared hundreds of times. Women’s associations from different regions of Algeria welcomed the initiative and called for a march for equality.

For Saadia Gacem, a doctoral student in sociology, social networks are an important tool in the media coverage of the women’s cause.

“Social networks have significantly helped the feminist movement. Online awareness campaigns make it possible to reach several cities in the country without having to travel,” she told MEE.

“It is also a tool for linking associations fighting for the same cause. In the past, the work was much slower, leaflets had to be distributed, often anonymously. Today, social networks are really supportive of the movement. »

This observation was particularly true during the hirak: every Friday in Algiers, Algerian activists met in a “feminist square” – of which Saadia Gacem was a co-founder – to recall that the “change of system” demanded by the demonstrators could not be done without “equal rights”. The rallies were then relayed by live videos and publications on social networks.

The JFA, a virtual space that has become media

For Saadia Gacem, this experience was revealing. First, for having brought out of the woods the “democrats” hostile to the feminist movement.

“We have received a lot of attacks on social networks. We are used, when we talk about feminism, to face animosity. Because this movement in Algeria is not well known and we are only just beginning to talk about it openly. Only this time, the attack came from political groups and democrats who claimed to be defenders of women’s rights! “, she notes.

“When we wanted, through the feminist square, to organize ourselves to carry the cause of women among the demands of the hirak, we were told that this was not the time. That we should not get out of the political demands of the hirak. This experience allowed us to really identify the intentions of those who claim to be in favor of a legalistic society,” continues Saadia Gacem.

On Facebook, the  Algerian Feminist Journal (JFA) page, which publishes reflections to stimulate debate on issues related to the status of women, now has more than 30,300 subscribers on-page.

Activist Amel Hadjadj, who created it in July 2015, wanted to make it a space for information and documentation where you can find articles, photo archives of women’s struggles in Algeria, or even events linked to the feminist movement.

“The original vocation of the JFA was to become a virtual space of expression, I did not envisage at the time to make it a full-fledged project. I knew it took a lot of energy to moderate the debates, do research for good documentation, also respond to subscribers,” she told MEE.

But a year after its launch, the situation changed with the feminicide of Amira Merabet.

“Having contacts almost everywhere in Algeria allows us to reduce the distance and to access information more easily. If an event occurs in Adrar, in the south of the country, we will be informed in due time.”

– Amel Hadjadj, JFA facilitator and feminist activist

“This young woman from Constantine was 34 years old when a man doused her with petrol, lit the fire, and set her on fire. Through the JFA, I decided to organize a sit-in and go see the victim’s family. This was the JFA’s very first public initiative. We have gone from a virtual existence to real existence. From a simple page on social networks, the JFA has become a kind of alternative media. »

Amel Hadjadj confides that the murder of Amira Merabet and the role played by the JFA made him aware of the importance of the dissemination of information on social networks.

“Many media focused on the murderer’s links with his victim instead of denouncing this heinous crime. That’s why I decided to go and meet the family to collect the information, which was broadcast on the page mentioning everything that the media did not talk about, that is to say the harassment, the violence of the act, the danger of the public space, etc. »

Atomization of society

Over the years, the JFA has seen the membership of women living in different cities of the country, a network which is today the strength of its medium.

“Having contacts almost everywhere in Algeria allows us to reduce the distance and to access information more easily. If an event occurs in Adrar, in the south of the country, we will be informed in due time,” she says.

Since 2021, the JFA has also been registered as a foundation, which allows it to launch initiatives. “Going towards a legal and official existence has become essential, especially since during the hirak, the JFA functioned as an alternative media,” she says.

Soumia Salhi, the feminist activist and trade unionist, recognizes that these new means of communication allow “a more effective dissemination of information”, while regretting that women do not take up more space in the public space.

“There are two million working women today, that is to say, many more than the 30,000 active women in 1966. There are also women in the public debate whereas at the time, 97% women were housewives,” she told MEE. They are also very numerous but not counted to work in the informal sector. 

“However, society is not traversed by militant networks, trade union networks. Admittedly, the press and the radio relay our calls more willingly than before and make us exist as a reference by giving us the floor. But our appeals do not lead to large gatherings. »

Soumia Salhi recalls the 2015 demonstration in Magra, in the wilaya of M’sila (center), to denounce the crime of Razika, killed by her stalker.

“Social networks are a powerful tool for communicating and, in the current adversity, they allow us to overcome our weaknesses. But they are only a tool”

– Soumia Salhi, feminist activist and trade unionist

“Thanks to the media and social networks, several hundred citizens demonstrated against the assassination of Razika. Social networks are a powerful tool for communicating and, in the current adversity, they allow us to overcome our weaknesses. But they are only a tool”, she nuances, stressing that these platforms “grow to the atomization of society, to withdrawal in front of one’s computer or smartphone, with this intoxication which will seize many of the most militant activists. active among us: this feeling of being the center of everything. This failing that endlessly crumbles even the most recent collectives must be overcome to rebuild our strength and our organizations. »

And to cite as an example the Algerian feminist movement of the 1980s, with three reference associations: the Association for the emancipation of women, the Association for equality, and the Association for the promotion of women.

“The feminist collectives of this glorious past were backed by a flourishing leftist movement, notably the socialist vanguard party, the Socialist Workers’ Organization. We built ourselves clandestinely using all possible frameworks: film clubs, university structures, etc, she says.

She remembers that in November 1989, about twenty associations and collectives had gathered in a meeting room of the wilaya (prefecture) of Algiers for a national meeting of women, founder of national coordination which will organize several meetings, will draw up useful texts and will carry out actions. But the context would quickly change.

Achievements obtained… before the digital age

“We had left to demand more rights when a massive misogynistic campaign challenged the meager rights of women and the meager spaces conquered. In particular, there was a huge march in December, called the ‘women’s march, where nearly 20,000 fundamentalists, including several thousand women, demonstrated against our rights,” she recalls.

March 8, 1990, was to be a massive response. The Algerian Association for the Emancipation of Women mobilized its supporters for a meeting via the movements and the unions. More than 2,500 women responded.

“Without the information dissemination technologies that exist today!” », underlines Soumia Salhi. Some counts evoke about twenty thousand women who would have marched in this way to the headquarters of the National People’s Assembly in Algiers.

Feminists point out that while social networks actively participate in promoting feminist actions in Algeria, the most significant achievements for women in the country have so far been obtained thanks to associations and collectives that already existed before the digital era.

For example, the telephone listening and reception centers for women set up by SOS Women in Distress, the Wassila network, which fights against violence against women and children, the National Commission for Working Women (CNFT) or the Rally against hogra (injustice) and for the rights of Algerian women (RACHDA).