This new feminist antifa group is taking on the far-right

“Sexism is at the heart of fascism”, said an FAF flyer distributed by organizers on the day. “The far-right say they want to stop sexual violence by closing national borders, attacking minorities and returning to ‘traditional’ gender roles. But the reality is that 80-90 percent of child sex offenders are white men and 87 percent of sexual violence is committed by someone known to the victim. Sexual abuse happens in every culture, country and community—and our own homes. The far-right don’t have the answers.” FAF organizer Alice Caradonna told Broadly on the day: “We organized today to stand to the far right’s appropriation of our experiences of sexual violence. Our experiences of sexual violence cannot be used to propagate their racist crap. We’re here to say that we’re against rape and that we’re against racism.” The DFLA march descended into violence early on, with dozens of DFLA supporters reportedly fighting cops and one threatening an officer and screaming “I’m going to kill you”. In a slow and tense build-up, the feminist antifascist bloc edged its way along the city’s streets from Portland Place to Oxford Circus. It finally faced up to the DFLA at Trafalgar Square, separated only by ten meters and scores of riot vans and overwhelmed police. Antifascist organizers kept up a relentless chant of “no pasaran” (“they shall not pass” in Spanish), their ranks powerfully headed up by an assembly of women and nonbinary supporters. The DFLA hurled racist slurs, beer cans, and chants of “God Save the Queen” and “Rule Britannia” in response. Finally, the antifascist bloc edged out the far right faction and continued its march along Waterloo Bridge. FAF organizers described the day as a success, but called on more people to join the movement of resistance against far-right ideology. “There have been so many militant women at the front of this demonstration all day taking to the streets, standing up to and confronting the far right,” Caradonna said. “I think we’re seeing a turn in antifascist and antiracist organizing in the UK. It’s becoming incredibly more normal and normalized, and it’s really becoming an everyday activity that everyone needs to be involved in.”

Bex Wade in This New Feminist Antifa Group Is Taking on the Far-Right (Broadly)