The Delegation of the Government of Spain in Aragon has presented on March 14 the prizes of its third comic contest against gender violence aimed at young people educated in educational centers of the autonomous community. The delegate of the Government, Rosa Serrano, has presided over the event in which Izarbe Pajuelo, of the School of Arts of Zaragoza; Sofía Díez, of the San Vicente de Paúl school of Barbastro; and Olga Sofía Gallardo, of the María Auxiliadora school of Zaragoza have won the first prizes of more than a hundred works that participated in the contest. Nine mentions have also been granted.
The prize in the category for students from Aragonese centers who study Baccalaureate or Formative Cycles of Middle or Higher Degree has fallen to Izarbe Pajuelo, jacetana of the School of Arts of Zaragoza with the work ‘Parte de mi’, a work on family relations and overcoming pain situations. He has received a prize consisting of a gift voucher worth 400 euros to buy books and educational material.
In the category aimed at students from Aragonese centers who study Compulsory Secondary Education, Sofía Díez, from the San Vicente de Paúl school in Barbastro, and Olga Sofía Gallardo, from the María Auxiliadora school in Zaragoza, have been awarded. The first has participated with ‘Re-Bloom’, an allegory about mistreatment. And the second one has presented ‘Do you still believe this’, a reflection in vignettes on prejudices and sexual violence against women. The two have received a gift voucher worth 400 euros to purchase books and educational material. In addition, the jury has determined to make nine mentions, which will receive a gift voucher worth 200 euros. These gift vouchers can be redeemed at any establishment of the corresponding provincial library association.
The Government delegate in Aragon stressed during the awards ceremony that the works presented are full of “nuances and commitment” as corresponds to a generation of young people focused on expressing their certainties “about equality, couple relationships and family ties”. Serrano also thanked them for their involvement in this social problem and encouraged them to be part of the solution. “As the campaign launched by the Government of Spain for this 8M says, we are at a time when you can talk about everything, without fear. We can talk, and in fact it is what you do with your works, about the acceptance of the body, respect for the other, care and co-responsibility, consent, diversity or individual evolution throughout the life of each person. And that is why we must accompany you in this reality by firmly betting on an education for equality, fundamental to prevent, identify and act in the face of male violence”, he reflected.
The illustrator and cartoonist, Sara Soler, intervened in the event, encouraging students to get involved in the medium because it is a “valuable and vindictive” medium that allows them to connect with broad layers of the population. “The comic has always been a bit disoriented, that’s why an institutional call like this is to be welcomed,” he explained. During the event she made a live drawing and recalled that the comic is a tool that also serves to “claim a better society and denounce the daily violence to which women are subjected”, setting as an example the threats that she receives on social networks.
The jury of the contest has highlighted the greater participation of the educational community in this third edition of the contest and the quality of the works received for deliberation. The jury was composed of representatives of the Violence against Women Unit of the Government Delegation, of the High Inspection of Education, of the General Directorate of Planning and Equity of the Department of Education, Culture and Sport of the Government of Aragon and of the Aragonese Federation of Guilds and Associations of Bookshops.