Announcement on the occasion of the call for the "Lilac Revolution"
At a time when all continents, in most countries of the world, are marking the thirtieth anniversary of the global campaign "16 Days of Activism Against Violence Against Women"[1], in Serbia, the media are calling on the citizens to stop the traffic blockade announced as part of Saturday's protest by citizens dissatisfied with the situation in the country on various issues by throwing buckets of purple paint[2] zaustavi blokadu saobraćaja najavljenu u okviru subotnjeg protesta građana nezadovoljnih stanjem u zemlji po različitim pitanjima. It is inadmissible and absurd to call upon citizens to confront one another, and even more inadmissible to do so by usurping the term "lilac revolution" and purple, which are symbols of women's movement and organization.
We demand that inflicting confusion on the public, usurpation of the terminology and symbols of feminism, and the abuse and framing of the history of the women's movement be stopped
The adoption of feminist symbols and heritage, and their abuse, is not unprecedented for the women's movement and women's organizations in Serbia, because we are often exposed to such moves, but the axiom of the women's movement is to always and everywhere raise our voice against it, as it is in this case with purple and the "lilac revolution". We remind you that the colour purple is a symbol of the feminist movement and that it is historically connected with the efforts and activities of the movement for the liberation of women and advocacy for women's rights. Calls for violence and clashes between citizens are contrary to what constitutes the fundamental principles of feminism, and we therefore warn and call for the purple colour as a symbol of the feminist movement not to be abused in this way. We appeal to the public and emphasize that we support diversity of attitudes and opinions, but we do not support violence and the adoption of symbols of the feminist movement.