The Government Delegation launches a campaign to raise awareness and curb male violence

• It will take place mainly in the months of August and September, which is when most of the festivities of the population centers of Castilla y León are held • Meeting with National Police, Civil Guard and units against violence against women to implement security measures that take into account the protection against male aggression • Next Friday will be held the Local Security Board of the most multitudinous festival of Castilla y León, the Sonorama Ribera 2023 that will attract thousands of people to Aranda de Duero between 9 and 13 August

July 19, 2023.- The delegate of the Government in Castilla y León, Virginia Barcones, presented this morning in Aranda de Duero the summer campaign against the machista aggressions "Ser Libre. Estar Viva” taking advantage of a preparatory meeting for the Local Security Board that will be held on Friday on the occasion of the Sonorama Ribera 2023 so that the most multitudinous festival of all that are held in Castilla y León will take place “normally and without incidents”.

It’s a generic campaign that “doesn’t just focus on sexual violence. When it comes to summer, we mainly seek to reach leisure centers where there is a majority of young people,” said Barcones. It is circumscribed in three scenarios: the great festivals, the festivals of towns and cities and the private nightlife venues. 

“It remains essential,” she said, “to raise awareness of the different forms of violence against women, to identify and denounce all forms of male violence and to report on the various comprehensive care services available to victims. That’s what the “Be Free” campaign is all about. Be Alive’”.

The data supports the need for this type of campaigns. In the last year, there were 619 crimes against sexual freedom in Castilla y León, of which 72 were sexual assaults with penetration. Crimes against sexual freedom increased by 18% compared to 2021, which, for the government delegate, “has a not necessarily negative interpretation because the percentage of women who have suffered sexual violence outside the couple and who have reported what happened in the Police, the Civil Guard or the Court did not reach 10%, according to the 2019 macrosurvey on violence against women.”

Therefore, this increase in the number of complaints “I want to believe and I believe that it is due to the active policies of awareness raising and reducing social tolerance in the face of this type of crime, which translates into a greater willingness of victims to report and a reduction in the high levels of offenses that occur in sexual violence”, concluded Barcones.

The August campaign will have a special impact in Castilla y León during the months of August and September. For the delegate “it is essential to report on the existing resources to attend to the victims of all forms of male violence in our autonomous community. These resources, characterized by their capacity for comprehensive care and specialization, must be implemented by all the competent institutions. The institutional cooperation of all public administrations is necessary.”

016, Alercops, free legal assistance, psychological care, the work of the State Security Forces and Bodies or the importance of women’s networks will be valued. “And we cannot fail to place the emphasis on all policies of prevention and accompaniment to the victims of all forms of male violence,” he said.

MEETING

The meeting was attended by the General Chief of the twelfth zone of the Civil Guard, Luis del Castillo; the Regional Chief of Operations of the National Police, Jesús del Amo; the Subdelegate of the Government in Burgos, Pedro de la Fuente; the coordinator of the units against violence against women of the Government subdelegations, Jessica Martínez; the Lieutenant Colonel Chief of the Command of the Civil Guard of Burgos, Alfonso Martín, and the Chief Inspector of the Aranda de Duero Commissariat, Joaquín Gomá.

It has talked about leisure related to the festivities of cities and towns, with special incidence in the latter, which are the ones carried out mostly in August and September. Some important festivities have already been held in cities of Castilla y León on the occasion of the dates close to San Juan and San Pedro.

All of them have taken into account the fight against male violence with awareness campaigns and the placement of violet dots that are an instrument promoted by the Ministry of Equality to involve the whole of society in the fight against male violence and to spread, in a massive way, the information necessary to know how to act in a case of violence against women.

VIOLET DOTS

The violet dots are part of the catalogue of urgent measures of the Improvement and Modernization Plan promoted by different ministries of the Government of Spain and represent a change of focus in public policies of attention to victims, placing male violence as a structural problem that requires the involvement of the whole of society to put an end to it.

With these violet points, an attempt is made to involve the whole of society in the fight against male violence. Bringing comprehensive services closer to victims through their environment. And provide information on how to respond to a case of male violence to establishments, entities, companies and public agencies.

Tools are provided for this. As a guide with information on how to act in the face of a case of male violence in the environment, as well as resources for the victims themselves. It also includes information on what male violence is, its different manifestations, and how to detect it.

Likewise, various materials such as posters and stickers that aim to point out that this space is a safe place for victims, where they can receive information and accompaniment if they need it.

And, in addition, badges to identify people involved in the fight against male violence: anyone who uses it will represent a gateway for women victims to access the resources they need.

MUNICIPALITIES AND STATE PACT

The violet dots have been visible during the holidays that have already been celebrated and will remain so for the rest. The municipalities have had funds from the State Pact against Gender Violence for five years and will have more funds this year.

In Castilla y León, they have received 17.5 million euros since 2018. According to Barcones, “there is already a long way to go in raising awareness of a problem of the first magnitude to prevent it from happening”.

The criteria for action in the face of a sexual assault at parties are to protect the person attacked, respect his opinion and his wishes, to nip rumours in the bud and preserve his identity, to coordinate all the institutions that have to attend to this person and, finally, to identify the aggressor so that the FCSE can make it available to the courts.

“For all of this, citizen collaboration is essential. But it is also necessary that all services with competences in these actions are alert,” said the representative of the Government of Spain in Castilla y León.

Of course, Civil Guard and National Police, but also 112, health services, psychologists, legal services for women, etc. At this point, Barcones recalled that the autonomous community of Castilla y León has received this year 14 M€ from the Government of Spain to combat violence against women.

The measures to tackle sexual violence in the context of leisure activities related to the festivities of our towns and cities involve awareness-raising (with appropriate materials), coordination between all the institutions involved in the protection of women, citizen collaboration and also police presence in a double plane: uniformed and located in strategic places, as a deterrent measure, but also discreetly to detect very worrying practices.

At this point, the delegate recalled the fear that invaded the whole country last year due to punctures and chemical submission: “And if that fear is generated, even if later it cannot be substantiated or demonstrated that it is actually happening, then only the subjective feeling of mistrust attacks the woman and is a brake on her freedom. So we are going to do everything in our power so that this situation does not happen again, so that all women feel protected as well as being protected.”

PRIVATE NIGHTLIFE

The campaign will also reach private nightlife venues. Discotheques, concert halls, bars, music bars, etc., are meeting and relationship spaces that, like many others, sometimes become the scene of behaviors that prevent everyone from enjoying them equally.

Sexual violence or the threat of it is one of the priority ways of limiting access to public spaces in a way that is equal for women.

“We are going to promote, from the units of violence against women,” explained Baraches, “meetings with those responsible for these leisure spaces to explain what our campaign consists of and to request their collaboration.”

Emphasis will be placed on encouraging reporting as a starting point for tackling the problem. The use of the Alercops application will also be disseminated, in addition to seeking an increase in security measures in these establishments. They and the workers in those entertainment venues, including waiters or security guards, will be offered talks to mark collaborative strategies. “We would like to get the business sector to act jointly and consensually to establish forms of prevention and action that are effective and useful,” said the government delegate.

And if, unfortunately, it becomes the case that sexual assault occurs, they also have to receive guidelines on how to act, on how to derive those cases through an optimal circuit for the immediate attention of the victim and so that the aggressor can be brought to justice.

SONORAMA

In the meeting held this morning in Aranda de Duero, the celebration of the Sonorama Ribera festival that will be held between 9 and 13 August has had a special presence.

The bet of the Government of Spain in the Local Security Board this Friday is a deployment of the National Police during the five days of the festival similar to last year. “In such a way – according to Baraches – that the people who attend have to know that there is always going to be a policeman nearby, even if they do not identify him as such. In addition, they should not be without immediate health care under any circumstances.”

It is essential for the victim to report better as soon as possible, and then coordination is also essential. Once the warning or complaint has occurred, the police will attempt to delineate the environment in which the alleged crime has occurred in order to identify the perpetrator(s).

If the victim decides to go to any of the health posts that will be around the festival’s venues, “there will be a policeman there to do his job,” according to the delegate.

The security forces and bodies will be very attentive to the environment of the camping site. The National Police device is reinforced with other specialized units that will travel to Aranda de Duero, for example, intervention, subsurface surveillance and, as happened last year, a specialized police unit on horseback that will be in the streets of the city. And there will also be a helicopter.

Many troops will be complemented by those of the Civil Guard who, in addition to regulating and monitoring traffic on adjacent roads, will carry out preventive controls at the entrance to Aranda de Duero to detect narcotic substances or weapons. To facilitate this task, the arrival of buses will be centralized at the bus station.

It will be very important to have the collaboration of the Local Police and Red Cross and Civil Protection volunteers.

OTHER FESTIVALS

Many of these measures will be similar to those established in the local security boards of our main towns and cities both in the celebration of special events (concerts or festivals) and in the patron saint’s festivities.

Virginia Barcones stressed that “we are not here today just for the Sonorama. By way of protocol, we want all festivals or musical events held in our autonomous community to be governed by similar safety guidelines in view of their functioning and their results.”

There are more and more music festivals in Castilla y León and they bring more and more people together. The EnClave de Agua, in Soria, which is celebrated this year on July 27, 28 and 29, was followed by 40,000 people last year. The festival Musicians in Nature, in Hoyos del Espino, in Ávila, which has not yet had a date this year, attracted 11,000 people to Gredos. The Ebrovision, in Miranda de Ebro will also gather thousands of people on August 31 and September 1 and 2. The Abeja Rock, from Béjar, in Salamanca will be around 5,000 attendees on August 18 and 19. These are just a few examples that tell us about the dimension of these encounters.