The government delegate in Extremadura, José Luis Quintana, highlighted today in Badajoz the advances experienced in the fight against gender violence in the last 20 years. During his intervention in the award of the Meninas 2024 awards, he pointed out that, although there is still progress in combating this scourge, in Spain significant progress has been made since the adoption in December 2004 of the Comprehensive Law against Gender Violence, under the Government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
In this regard, Quintana has defended that with what was the first and only comprehensive law against gender violence in Europe, “we have been learning and building a system capable of responding adequately to the objectives that this law has for victims: to protect, support, prevent and eradicate violence against women, in addition to, obviously, sanctioning abusers.” For this reason, she has highlighted the importance of these awards that help to make visible the importance of women, projects and entities that recognize those people and institutions that firmly fight against gender violence.
The government delegate in Extremadura recalled that, despite the dramatic number of women and minors killed, you can look to the future with hope. “Today, in addition to remembering the murdered women, I want to focus on the women the system has saved. A figure that we can never quantify, but which, without a doubt, is what moves us to continue working with all our forces. A single surviving woman, a single saved child, is already worth all the effort we make as a society.”
In this edition, the NGO Women in Conflict Zone, the President of the Provincial Court of Badajoz, Luis Romualdo Hernández Díaz-Ambrona and the Delegate Prosecutor for Violence against Women of the province of Cáceres and Prosecutor for the Protection of Victims of Violent Crimes, María Carrión San Cecilio, received today in Badajoz the 'Menina' 2024 awards granted by the Government Delegation in Extremadura. In addition to the three decorations, several special mentions have been made, to the Provincial Brigades of Foreigners and Borders of the National Police in Badajoz and Cáceres; the Higher Degree Training Cycle for the Promotion of Gender Equality of the I.E.S. Al-Qázeres (Cáceres) and the I.E.S. Bárbara de Braganza (Badajoz), as well as the captain of the Civil Guard Ramón García, and the local police of Mérida Helena Pérez.
Quintana has appreciated the contribution of recognized individuals and groups, and has called for further progress in this area. “Today we celebrate this act to continue shouting against gender violence. Today we remember that 20 years ago Spain decided to deal ambitiously with this social problem and put in place all the public resources necessary to tackle it. Today, as a representative of the Government of Spain, I am proud of our society to see that more and more institutions raise their voices against male violence,” he said.
The event, held at the Hospital Centro Vivo de la Diputación de Badajoz, was attended by former President Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra; the General Secretary of Equality and Conciliation, Ara Sánchez Vera; the President of the TSJEx, María Félix Tena; the Government’s Deputy Delegate in Badjaoz and Cáceres, Maribel Cortés and José Antonio Garcia, and the Equality Deputies in Badajoz and Cáceres, Lourdes Linares and Antonia Molina, among other civil and military authorities.