Guadalajara.- The Subdelegate of the Government of Spain in the province of Guadalajara, Mercedes Gómez, has claimed this morning “the real equality between men and women in all aspects of life” during her intervention in the institutional act of the International Women’s Day, organized by the Subdelegation of the Government, and convened jointly with the Delegation of the Board of Communities of Castilla-La Mancha, the Provincial Council and the City of Guadalajara.
The event was attended by representatives of the four convoking administrations, headed by the mayor of Guadalajara, Alberto Rojo, the president of the Provincial Council of Guadalajara, José Luis Vega, and provincial delegates of the Board of Communities. The President of the Council of State, Magdalena Valerio, has also attended, as well as numerous authorities and representatives of different municipalities throughout the province and social organizations.
The deputy delegate said that, “fortunately, today, in our country and in the European Union as a whole, men and women have legal equality recognized; but, as often happens, real equality is something else. Despite the advances made by feminism, there are still many gender gaps that persist in our society.”
In this regard, he has pointed out a wide list of situations that highlight it. From the under-representation of women in management bodies, to wage differences or the maintenance of gender stereotypes that attribute power and authority to men.
On the contrary, women are the vast majority in professions related to care or cleaning, jobs with low pay, little recognition and high physical wear and tear. In addition, they continue to devote more time to household chores and interrupt their professional careers more often than men in order to devote themselves to caring.
“All these imbalances give rise to a clear situation of inequality,” said the deputy delegate, which harms women but affects the whole of society. “When women do not have the same opportunities as men, the whole society loses,” he said.
Therefore, she stressed that “International Women’s Day, March 8, in addition to a day of celebration, is a day to make visible the fight for equality,” and she assured that “we all have a role to play: governments have the responsibility to implement policies that guarantee equal opportunities for all citizens, regardless of gender; companies must take measures to eliminate gender discrimination, and we must all work together to create a more inclusive and fair society.”
Gómez has stressed that “the strength of feminism is growing” because it is no longer just a movement of women, but of the whole society, which does not stop until it reaches real equality”, despite the appearance of reactionary discourses that deny it.
During the institutional event, images collected and commented on by Professor José Antonio Ruiz Rojo of the first street demonstrations of protest in favor of female suffrage have been projected, a right that was not recognized for the first time until barely 100 years ago, and in a restricted way. Later still in the case of Spain, where women’s suffrage was not recognized until 1931. “Discounting the period of the Franco dictatorship, in which no one voted, the right to vote of women in Spain has not been in force for even 50 years. That’s why these black-and-white images shouldn’t seem so distant to us,” said the deputy delegate.