The deputy delegate of the Government in A Coruña, María Rivas, highlighted this morning in A Coruña the work of the Government to build a more just and egalitarian society, “a work that must be joint, in which all citizens are required”. He did so during the inauguration of the VioGen Conference ‘At last we are equal, sure?’, at the Carmela Arias and Díaz de Rábago Social Insertion Center, in A Coruña with its director, Carla García.
María Rivas highlighted the relevance of these days, whose objective is “to highlight the progress achieved and show the gaps that still exist due to sex in our society”. In this line, the subdelegate stressed that much progress has been made for equality, “but this Government is aware that there is a lot of work ahead, a work that will be lighter if done jointly, with the whole of society gathering together.”
He gave an account of the Government’s commitments to feminism, democracy and equality, “which are not only shown through investment, encrypted only through the State pact against Gender Violence in 140 million euros per year for the autonomous communities, or through the Joint Responsibility Plan, which amounts to 190 million for the autonomous entities; also through training days as important as these, key to train and raise society’s awareness of the need to continue moving towards equality.”
“The Gender Equality Index 2024 of the European Institute of Gender Equality confirmed that Spain remains the fourth most advanced country in gender equality within the European Union, behind Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands and 5 points above the European average,” recalled María Rivas, who stressed that, despite these positive data, “this does not come, because we must go further, being our goal to achieve real and effective equality and end any kind of gender gap that is present in our society.”
The subdelegate highlighted the CIS days as a good example of this necessary involvement of all sectors of society, noting the presence of great professionals from all fields, all committed to building a more just and violence-free society. She highlighted the figures of Elena Steigner Doallo, Regional Public Prosecutor of the Violence against Women specialization of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Galicia; Javier Carballo, expert in equality at work; Adrián Goçalves, sociologist and director of the Women’s Information Center of Arzúa, and Ana Ramos, general secretary of the Association of Women in the Public Sector.
Tailor-made performances
The subdelegate pointed out the Government’s involvement in each and every one of the problems facing equality. Faced with the pay gap, María Rivas called for the development of the European equal pay regulation, the increase of the Interprofessional Minimum Wage by 61% since 2018 that mainly benefits women or the increase of the average pension of women by 45%. Faced with the representation gap, “the Parity Law to move towards the full integration of women on equal terms with men”. And faced with the care gap, the subdelegate focused on the Co-responsible Plan “which allows funds to be transferred to the Autonomous Communities to continue working to reduce this gap, which means that 88% of the child care surpluses are requested by women or that 73.5% of the people employed part-time are”.