Francisco Franco’s brutal regime has been marked by numerous atrocities, but one often overlooked aspect is the trauma experienced by women and their children under his rule. The Spanish government recently honored the victims of Franco’s dictatorship with a vigil, shedding light on the lives of those who suffered under his oppressive regime.
Historians estimate that between 100,000 to over 500,000 people were killed, imprisoned, or forced into exile during Franco’s dictatorial rule from 1939 to 1975. Women and children were particularly vulnerable to psychological and physical abuse in prisons, orphanages, and asylums. The regime framed women as inherently subordinate, subjecting those who resisted to severe punishment.
The testimonies of women imprisoned during the civil war or subsequent decades reveal a “double punishment” – targeted not only for their beliefs but also for being women and mothers. Women’s roles were rigidly controlled by National Catholicism, which linked femininity, motherhood, and loyalty to the state. Those who defied the patriarchy were criminalized and subjected to re-education focused on religious values.
Confinement itself was brutal, with guards regularly insulting and beating inmates. Women were subjected to head shaving, forced ingestion of castor oil, and public humiliation. They also faced sexual violence by prison guards or interrogating officers. The regime’s forced separation of mothers from their children was a calculated political strategy rooted in Francoist ideology.
This article highlights the traumatic motherhood experiences under Franco’s dictatorship, exposing how authoritarian power can reach into the most intimate parts of life. Despite Spain’s Amnesty Act of 1977, those responsible for atrocities committed under Franco have seldom been held accountable, leaving many descendants still struggling with the weight of this silenced past.
Source: https://www.mississippifreepress.org/opinion-hearing-the-voices-of-spains-imprisoned-mothers