Portrait of Juanita Rico on her grave stone

The Second Republic created the conditions for women to take on a greater role in the political system, and they became more mobilized through membership in political parties, youth organizations and women’s and feminist associations.

At a moment when a number of groups advocated the use of violence to achieve their political goals and in which there were frequent encounters between groups of workers, unionists and peasants and the Republican forces of order, some women also took part in violent acts, either as a result of strikes or organized insurrections.

Juanita Rico (1914-1934), whose portrait on her gravestone we see here, a member of the Unified Socialist Youth (JSU) was one of the women who became involved in armed street fights between rival groups. Others, like Josefa Paredes, a member of an anarchist direct action group, took part in attacks on authorities. The women who took part in the Revolution of 1934 in Asturias deserve special mention since from then on, the role of women in armed insurrections became better known than ever before. One example is Aida Lafuente, who during the Civil War was made into an icon and martyr of the Communist cause. Juanita Rico, after whom an armoured car and a militia unit would be named, was another.

But it was not just female militants of political organizations who took part in violent conflicts. The press increasingly reported on the leading role of women in encounters with the Civil Guard and other police forces as a result of strikes or demonstrations, even when there were fewer of them involved than men.  In their stories about these events, publications like ABC, Estampa or Crónica highlighted the role of women, often as leaders or instigators of the violence, although these reports often exaggerated the role of the women. Depending on a publication’s political leanings, these women could be mocked as “rowdy little dressmakers” or praised as “Agustinas of Aragón”, the great heroine of the war against Napoleon. Whatever their politics, this gender slant was one thing the publications shared.

While the role of women in revolutionary activities was quantitatively much less than that of men, it is important to note it since it represented a transgression of gender norms and because these women acted from a firm belief in the causes they defended.

ACS