The deputy delegate of the Government in Ourense, Eladio Santos, stressed the commitment of the Government of Spain to the safety of women on the Camino de Santiago. He did it during the presentation of the campaign 'No caminas soloa: Camino de Santiago free of male violence', which took place this morning in O Barco de Valdeorras.
The event was also attended by the head of the Unit against Violence Against Women of the Government Subdelegation, Alida Iglesias; the mayor of the municipality, Alfredo García; the lieutenant colonel head of the command of the Civil Guard of Ourense, Rafael Berguillo, and other members of the body and also of the National Republican Guard (GNR) of Portugal, who collaborates in the security of certain routes. They did a media deployment with horses, a helicopter and a drone, which the children of the municipal summer camps could see.
In his speech, Eladio Santos explained that this initiative aimed at strengthening the protection of women on the Camino de Santiago began in 2021, promoted by the Coordination Units against Violence against Women of the Delegations of the Government of Galicia, Aragón, Navarra, La Rioja, Castilla y León and Extremadura, due to the increase of pilgrim women who decide to travel the Jacobean routes in solitude. The campaign seeks to make the pilgrims aware of the resources made available to women and that they can use in case they suffer any type of violence.
The deputy delegate indicated that in the province of Ourense 117 posters and 1,500 information cards were distributed, written in Spanish and English, which are placed in 41 pharmacies and 20 health centers, as well as hostels, tourist offices, police stations and Civil Guard posts. These materials include contact phones and recommend downloading the AlertCorps app, a tool that connects directly with the security forces, and a QR code that allows access to the website of the Government Delegation against Gender Violence, where there are information and resources against violence against women.
In this sense, Santos stressed that "the involvement of the whole society is necessary to eradicate male violence." "The dissemination of this campaign with so many agents involved helps to have information on all available resources and to sensitize, prevent and denounce the violence that pilgrims may suffer, as well as to improve the protection and safety of the roads," he said. The routes that cross the province of Ourense are the Winter Route, which runs through the municipalities of Carballeda, O Barco, Vilamartín and A Rúa, and the Silver Route, which runs through A Gudiña, Xunqueira de Ambía, Verín, Monterrei, Xinzo de Limia, Allariz, Ourense and San Cristovo de Cea.