The deputy delegate of the Government in A Coruña, María Rivas, praised the work of the Fundación Secretariado Gitano in the fight for the equality of gypsy women. She did so in the framework of a visit to the offices of the foundation in A Coruña in which she was accompanied by the territorial director in Galicia, Eva Vera, and the coordinator of the foundation in A Coruña, Maite Serra, and the head of the Unit Against Violence on Women of the Subdelegation of the Government in A Coruña, Manuela Vilaboy, and which is part of the events on the occasion of 8M, International Women's Day.
In the course of the same, the subdelegate was able to know the work carried out by the 13 people who work in this center, one of the three that the foundation has in the province along with those of Santiago and Ferrol, in the different programs that they have in place and for which more than 2,500 people passed in Galicia, “programs that have the support of the Government through the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030 and the funds of the Recovery Plan,” she said.
In particular, María Rivas was interested in the Calí Program, which promotes the equality of gypsy women and is already in its third edition. “It is a program aimed at the empowerment of these women through the acquisition of skills that help them in their personal development, prepare them to participate in processes of labor insertion and promote their active citizenship,” he said.
This program, he indicated, allowed to attend 116 women in Galicia in 2023 through individualized itineraries, in addition to addressing 35 cases of discrimination and conducting 29 awareness sessions in conciliation and gender equality, prevention of gender violence and equal treatment and non-discrimination. “What these actions are about is promoting gender equality between men and women and, at the same time, breaking down the cultural and social barriers that affect Roma women and facilitating their socio-labor inclusion,” added the deputy delegate.
In this regard, he stressed that one of his lines of action is to assist those women who suffer situations of gender violence so that they can have access to specialized resources, “including those offered to Subdelegation of the Government and also those financed by the Government through the State Pact against Gender Violence,” said Rivas, who reported that in its update, valid for the next five years, it includes as a novelty the recognition of the specificity of gypsy women and concrete measures for this group.
“All these actions are aimed at promoting equal treatment and sensitizing the gypsy community itself on its right to equality, eliminating damages and stereotypes that generate discrimination and prevent their full participation in the economic, social and labor field,” said the deputy delegate, who congratulated the foundation for the work it has been developing in this field in recent years.
The deputy delegate and the head of the Unit Against Violence against Women also took advantage of the visit to hand over to the foundation information material from the services of care and protection for women victims of male violence (Atempro); from the COMETA centers; from the telephone 016, and from the Alertcops application of the National Police. In addition, they indicated that they can request specific services from the Subdelegation, such as the presence of MAVI, the travelling suitcase against gender violence, or the program ‘A Administración Cerca de Ti’, which promotes digitization in the less populated municipalities and also, as a novelty, that of those groups that request it.