"Ni Una Menos" in Argentina as a human rights campaign is unique in that it came into being organically on social media. It grew out of the coordinated efforts of journalists, intellectuals and activists, it defined a narrow focus and specific calls to action, but it has not developed an institutional structure in spite of having spilled over to other countries in the region and continuing to have a high media and political profile.
This essay considers "Ni Una Menos" within the framework developed by Keck and Sikkink in their 1999 UNESCO article "Transnational Advocacy Networks" in international and regional politics. "Ni Una Menos" has sparked sister movements in several countries in the region but there is no evidence that a 'transnational advocacy network' as defined by Keck and Sikkink (1999: 89) is forming as of the time of writing. Consequently, this campaign does not seem to comfortably fit the authors’ definition of an advocacy network.
However, this framework is useful for bringing intellectual order to what may look like a series spontaneous interventions around an issue by providing analytical tools to understand Ni Una Menos' break from traditional framing strategies of human rights issues in Argentina and allowing the systematic exploration of the campaign's tactics and its policy outcomes in the Macri presidency.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Definition of femicide, legal framework and context
Framing the Movement
Campaign tactics
Conclusion
Objectives and Research Focus
This study examines the Ni Una Menos movement as a grassroots human rights initiative in Argentina, analyzing how it has influenced the political agenda and government behavior regarding gender-based violence. The research investigates whether this social movement aligns with the theoretical framework of transnational advocacy networks while exploring its specific strategic framing and tactics.
- Analysis of the movement's organic development via social media and its lack of traditional institutional structure.
- Evaluation of the disconnect between Argentina's comprehensive legal framework and pervasive social perceptions of machista violence.
- Application of the "Spiral Model" to assess Argentina's progress in the socialization of human rights norms.
- Exploration of campaign tactics, including information politics, symbolic politics, leverage politics, and accountability politics.
Excerpt from the Book
Introduction
The Ni Una Menos campaign was sparked by the murder of 14-year-old Chiara Paez in 2015. Chiara’s death was at the time the latest in a series of widely publicised murders in Argentina that had young women as victims and their partners or close male relatives as the perpetrators. Her murder dominated media coverage for weeks and it generated a widespread reaction on social media (Pomeraniec, 2015).
The seed was a tweet in which Marcela Ojeda, a radio journalist, challenged women across the country with a phrase that is already historic: “They are killing us: Aren’t we going to do anything?”
Some of us decided to do something. We protested, rallying around the slogan and hashtag #NiUnaMenos (“NotOneLess”, meaning we must not lose one more woman to violence).
(…) A group of female journalists, intellectuals and activists [came] (...) together, explaining to others why we needed to march. We underlined that Argentina has comprehensive anti-gender violence legislation, but the law has not been fully implemented (Pomeraniec 2015).
This is the uniqueness of Ni Una Menos as a human rights campaign: it came into being organically on social media, it grew out of the coordinated efforts of journalists, intellectuals and activists, it defined a narrow focus and specific calls to action but it has not developed an institutional structure in spite of having spilled over to other countries in the region and continuing to have a high media and political profile.
Summary of Chapters
Introduction: Provides the context of the Ni Una Menos campaign, tracing its origin to the 2015 murder of Chiara Paez and outlining its unique structure as an organic, social media-driven movement.
Definition of femicide, legal framework and context: Explores the conceptual definition of femicide and evaluates the gap between Argentina’s formal anti-gender violence legislation and ongoing social challenges.
Framing the Movement: Discusses the strategic shift in how the movement frames femicide within a human rights context, moving away from traditional family-centric rhetoric.
Campaign tactics: Analyzes the movement's methodology, utilizing Keck and Sikkink’s typology to examine how information, symbolic, leverage, and accountability politics are applied.
Conclusion: Summarizes the movement's success in influencing political agendas and highlights the limitations of existing theoretical frameworks in accounting for modern, digitally-organized advocacy.
Keywords
Ni Una Menos, Argentina, Femicide, Gender-based violence, Human rights, Advocacy networks, Social media, Machista violence, Political agenda, Legal framework, Grassroots movement, Information politics, Symbolic politics, Leverage politics, Accountability politics.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this paper?
The paper focuses on the Ni Una Menos movement in Argentina, examining its rise as a human rights campaign against gender-based violence and femicide.
What are the primary thematic areas?
Central themes include the social construction of gender norms, the role of social media in grassroots activism, government accountability, and the legal responses to gender-based killings.
What is the research goal?
The study aims to evaluate how a loosely organized, non-institutional movement can influence national political agendas and pressure the state to adopt consistent rule-abiding behavior.
Which scientific method is applied?
The author uses a qualitative analysis approach, applying the theoretical framework of Keck and Sikkink’s "Transnational Advocacy Networks" and Risse-Kappen’s "Spiral Model" to interpret the movement's impact.
What is covered in the main body of the work?
The work covers the history and framing of the movement, an analysis of the legal environment in Argentina, and a detailed classification of the movement's specific campaign tactics.
Which keywords characterize the study?
Key terms include Ni Una Menos, femicide, gender-based violence, human rights, advocacy networks, and grassroots political activism.
How does the movement differ from traditional advocacy networks?
Unlike traditional networks, Ni Una Menos lacks a rigid institutional structure, relying instead on organic social media coordination, shared iconography, and a collective hashtag to drive change.
What role does the "Spiral Model" play in the author's argument?
The model is used to argue that Argentina is currently in the fourth phase of norm socialization, where human rights norms are accepted in discourse but not yet fully implemented in practice.
How did the movement exert "Leverage Politics"?
The movement used the 2015 election cycle to demand public commitments from presidential candidates, ensuring that addressing femicide became part of the national political agenda.
- Quote paper
- MA in Understanding and Securing Human Rights Stef Monaco (Author), 2016, The "Ni Una Menos" campaign. Reframing femicide in the quest for the socialisation of norms, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/367238
