The Government delegate in the Canary Islands, Anselmo Pestana, has today presided over the handing over of the Menina 2024 awards, which the Government Delegation in the Canary Islands grants on the occasion of the 25th International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to people and institutions that have stood out for their involvement against this social scourge.
The event, held in the Throne Room of the Government Delegation in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in the presence of civil and military authorities, was also attended by the Government’s sub-delegates in Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Teresa Mayans and Javier Plata, respectively.
“To remember that it will be celebrated on December 28, the twentieth anniversary of the approval in our country, of the Organic Law of Comprehensive Protection Measures against Gender Violence. Twenty years in which we have developed a whole legal, assistance, police, judicial, health, labor, economic network, aimed, above all, to protect the victims and their dependants, from all areas” said Anselmo Pestana.
The delegate added, “that is why education in equality is fundamental from all areas: school, family, university, institutions, all spaces of power and decision are fundamental to create a world of progress in equality, where women and men can advance with the same rights and the same opportunities, leaving no one behind.”
Received Menina 2024 recognition:
- Sabrina González Plasencia
Health psychologist, forensic psychologist and forensic neuropsychologist, Sabrina González, expert in interventions with victims of sexual abuse, gender violence and domestic violence, receives the recognition Menina 2024 for her close altruistic collaboration with the Court of Violence on Women of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
As a psychologist, she has cared selessly since March 2021 for more than 20 victims of gender violence, offering them accompaniment throughout the judicial process, helping them in their statements and, in many cases, giving personalized attention from her own cabinet to them and their daughters and sons.
- Sandra Maria Rei Ambrosio
Sandra María Rei, English and Portuguese translator/interpreter in the Civil Guard headquarters and in the Courts of First Instance and Instruction, Criminal and Social of Fuerteventura, receives the Menina 2024 recognition for her unconditional collaboration with the Gender Violence Team of the Civil Guard of the Company of Puerto del Rosario.
In her professional work, she goes beyond her job as an interpreter, accompanying victims of gender-based violence who do not speak Spanish in a court, arropating them with an absolute dedication so that they do not feel lost at the time of the complaint and in the trial, and using a non-legal language that facilitates the understanding of both the victim and the respondent.
- Raúl Santamaría Nicolás, Deputy Inspector of the Local Police Station of San Cristobal de La Laguna
The sub-inspector Raúl Santamaría has been recognized with the Menina 2024 for his intervention off duty in an attack on a victim of gender violence and his companion on the TF1 highway in Tenerife, facilitating the rapid arrest of the aggressor, the protection of the woman and saving the life of the companion of the latter, who had been stabbed and assisted with first aid before being transferred to the hospital.
The incident took place in the early hours of December 24, 2023, when Raul Santamaría was riding with his wife in his vehicle and was forced to stop at TF1 with another car by the reckless driving of a third party, who turned out to be driven by the aggressor, who took advantage of the circumstance to retain the victim and to stab his companion.
- UCRIF Units of National Police and Homicide Equipment Persons of the Organic Judicial Police Units of the Civil Guard of the provinces of Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife
The Units against Immigration Networks and Documentary Falsehoods (UCRIF) and Homicide People Team of the Organic Judicial Police Units of the Civil Guard receive Menina 2024 recognition for their silent work of investigating, detecting and arresting all those individuals or criminal bands who carry out criminal activities, both nationally and transnationally, related to the trafficking of human beings for the purpose of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, irregular immigration and crimes against women and minors.
These units provide at all times a personalized, close and fully guaranteed attention to protect these vulnerable victims who constantly suffer the violation of human rights contained in the Universal Declaration of 1948, so that the UCRIF members of the National Police and the Homicide People Team of the Organic Judicial Police Units of the Civil Guard maintain daily and coordinated contacts with the entities of the third sector in order to rescue and recover women from the networks of trafficking and prostitution.
The act was performed by the soprano María Teresa Robaina with the aria Lascia Ch´io Pianga (Let me cry) from Händel.