Yesterday Human Rights Watch published this image of mine to illustrate the article “Protecting Women From Unsafe Abortions in Argentina.” In it, Marianne Møllmann, HRW’s Advocacy Director of the Women’s Rights Division, recounts her experience speaking at an Argentine Congressional meeting on November 30, 2010. The meeting was historic: Argentina’s government publicly opened a debate to consider decriminalizing abortion.
Møllmann has been working on safeguarding the reproductive rights of Argentine women for years, having researched, written and publicised two influential HRW reports on the topic. These put international pressure on the government, directly supporting the efforts of local groups and politicians to bring the “abortion issue” to Congress. (I illustrated the cover of the second report, “Illusions of Care,” released last fall. )
HRW asked me to provide photography coverage of Møllmann’s activities on November 30.
I was totally blown away by seeing Møllmann in action. To me, the most incredible aspect of her advocacy efforts was the fact that when she arrived in Buenos Aires that Tuesday morning — by overnight plane from New York — Møllmann had no idea exactly what she was stepping into. After-the-fact press coverage (and even HRW’s own reporting) make it seems otherwise. But the fact is that Møllmann had received nothing more than a vague invite from an Argentine Congresswoman, and subsequently she could confirm almost nothing about the day’s events.
As I photographed Møllmann going over her notes outside “Congreso,” she explained that she might be meeting with just a few legislators and receive little or no press coverage. Or perhaps, she said, she would face scores of legislators and receive massive press coverage. She didn’t know if she would be given five minutes to speak or an hour, if she would be part of a panel or a sole presenter. It was possible, she said, that she could be used as the face of third-party international organization to help Argentine legislators open the debate in the most positive manner possible.
I was fascinated by this possible role that Møllmann/HRW might play, but utterly dumbfounded that she had, with only two hours before her meeting, no idea what this meeting would be. Without recalling my earliest sexual experiences, I can’t even begin to imagine that kind of pressure mixed with uncertainty.
Soon Møllmann’s cell phone rang, a Congresswoman showed up at the café and, after a few minutes of chatting, Møllmann was whisked past Congress’s entrance security — as well as protesters both for and against the legalization of abortion. It turned out that this was going to be a major event. In little more than an hour Møllmann would be the only speaker addressing a large Congressional meeting. Cameras from every major Argentine news agency would be rolling. She would take a slew of dificult follow-up questions, first from members from Congress, then a mob of press, then in individual interviews throughout the afternoon.
I was amazed by how Møllmann handled the hectic pace, the uncertainty of the events as they unfolded and the swarms of Argentines who wanted her attention. Some of these saw her as a supportive ally, others as a dangerous enemy. (One group had launched a FaceBook page attacking Møllmann before her arrival, prompting HRW to take extra security measures to ensure her safety.) Ally or enemy, all wanted her to ask her tough questions about a very tough issue.
Thoughts regarding abortion legislation are difficult for anyone to express in any context, even among two friends who are ideologically in line with each other. The exception to this, of course, is if you’re fanatical. If you’re fanatical, abortion is easy to discuss. If your the rest of us, it’s so very difficult.
Møllmann is not at all fanatical, and she always expresses utmost respect for the thinking and emotions of those who are uncomfortable with abortion — even if they have launched a FaceBook hate campaign against her. She understands. It’s basically impossible to legislate such a personal issue, but it’s necessary.
Although Møllmann is respectful, she is even more pragmatic. Decriminalizing abortion, she is convinced, is the only way to reduce the rate of deaths to pregnant woman that result from illegal abortions. To those who would say that these abortions should not take place, Møllmann does not argue the point. She simply, pragmatically points out that legal or not, abortions have always and will always take place.
Møllmann’s pragmatism seems to come, at least in part, from her Western European upbringing. (The funny “ø” in her name hints to her Danish roots). She explained to me that in a number of Western European countries abortion laws are not as cut-and-dry as the “yes” or “no” approach to the legality of abortion in many countries, such as the United States (“yes”) and Argentina (“no”). Rather, a woman’s right to access abortion depends on how pregnant she is.
For example, in Denmark you can have an abortion legally in your first trimester of pregnancy; in your third trimester of pregnancy you can only receive an abortion if the pregnancy poses a serious risk to your health. This approach, which I had not been aware of, makes perfect sense to me, and it seems much better suited to the nature of abortion than either a “yes” or “no” approach. (At eight months your fetus is unarguably much closer to a baby than at the moment of conception, regardless of when you might believe a fetus becomes “human.”)
I’m getting off track a bit by starting to go into such fine points. The real point is that any such fine points regarding abortion were beyond the scope of what Møllmann might communicate on November 30th. As her uncertain Tuesday morning turned into a frantic afternoon, Møllmann had to keep her wits about her to best share the most pertinent message in the most effective way. And this is exactly what she did.
From my point of view (as a language-learning moron), Møllmann gets major points for doing all of this in beautifully fluid Spanish, which is her third (or maybe fourth?) language. She also gets a whole different kind of points for doing all of this with a attitude of humility.
When I mention humility, be clear that I’m not going to paint Møllmann as a pushover. She brings that rare, focused, controlled kind of fighting to the table for which lawyers are known. (In fact, she studied law but never practiced.) No, when I mention Møllmann’s humility I am referring to the fact that, on the one hand, she understands that there is extremely little that she (or Human Rights Watch or any outside force) can do to change the laws (or attitudes) of a foreign nation (or its people). On the other hand, she is hellbent on protecting and improving the rights of women. And when she sees a chance to make a difference, even if it’s a very slim one, she is willing to commit years of work to a specific cause — as with her efforts in Argentina. All along she has known that her work might come to nothing, but nonetheless she seems to trust that the efforts have value nonetheless.
Tuesday, November 30th, was one of the rare moments in Møllmann’s career when she could see the results of her work come too such a visible, positive head. And yet, with humility, she never once took credit for “making a difference.” She did, pragmatically, take credit for being a small, important part of large movement that might make a difference.
“Protecting Women From Unsafe Abortions in Argentina” is informative — good background knowledge for anyone unfamiliar with the topic — but it does not convey the feverish energy of the day nor (to my mind) a true sense of the skills (and energy!) required by Møllmann to accomplish her work.
It will sound corny, but it’s true: I felt privileged to have the opportunity to photograph Marianne Møllmann at work. It was educational, inspiring and downright mesmerizing.
This gallery features more of my images from my coverage of the Congressional meeting on November 30, including these three visions of at Møllmann at work.
To help keep women's rights in the limelight, Møllmann -- who arrived by plane only a few hours earlier -- gives an interview by phone, minutes before testifying before Congress.
When answering the question of a Congresswoman opposed to abortion, Møllmann was respectful, articulate, confident, pragmatic and forceful. This impressive combination of qualities make her good at her job and, no doubt, they would have been respected by General San Martín -- pictured behind her.
If she were claustrophobic, Møllmann couldn't have handled the press "press" after speaking. However, she managed to seem at ease in front of the cameras, deftly handling a barrage of questions -- in Spanish, which is not her native tongue.