The Delegate of the Government, Sabrina Moh, has shown her desire that this edition of the Melilla Fair be, as in previous years, “a safe space and free of male violence”.
The highest representative of the Government of Spain in the city and the Head of the Coordination Unit Against Gender Violence, Laura Segura, appeared before the media today on the occasion of the beginning of the distribution of the information of the Punto Violeta campaign to the different Casetas del Real de la Feria.
“We want this exhibition center to be a safe space and that both the possible victims, who we hope there are none, and all the people who are there, those who are working or the possible witnesses, can have this information so important to know how to protect the possible victims,” said the Delegate.
“It is very important to continue implementing this type of measures to make our patron saint’s parties safe”, he said and pointed out that it is necessary to expand information and carry out awareness campaigns for all citizens “and that we see that this is a real problem, a problem that exists and that it must be tackled”.
In this sense, Moh, has pointed out that “the more information and more secure spaces we have for the best, it is going to be better because it is going to benefit the whole society”.
Structural violence
As Laura Segura explained, the Punto Violeta Campaign was launched by the Ministry of Equality in collaboration with other Ministries of the Government of Spain, within the Action Plan of Urgent Measures that were carried out during the state of alarm on the occasion of the pandemic “when there was a high number of fatalities in a very small period of time”.
“It is a campaign that was launched in a different way, a campaign that has, above all, as its main objective to involve all citizens, the whole society in the fight against gender violence,” he said.
Therefore, the objective is not only to inform victims of how to act in case of a situation of gender violence, but also to those people who may have knowledge that a situation of gender violence is taking place and who may be witnesses in a case of this type.
“It is essential that information reaches not only the victims but also the rest of society and that we become aware that we are talking about a violence that is structural and that, in addition, it is a violence that is a public crime, that anyone can report a situation of violence and that we have the obligation to do so,” he said.
Segura has shown her desire that the people who attend these fairs this year “want to have a good time, but also be aware that it is important to do it with guarantees of respect and equality”. “It is important that we, especially women, can come to the Fair in equality and freedom,” she said.
Signage and fans
The head of the Unit has reported that the campaign consists, on the one hand, of a signage that has this violet point and that is going to be located in all the Casetas of the fair, in the public services and in other spaces where it can have a large public influx, as well as the information point.
“It has that violet point in itself, which is a hallmark that makes citizens see that we are talking about that it is a safe space,” he said. That is to say, that “the person who enters a space of the Fair where the violet point is present, must guarantee that security to women who may be suffering gender violence as well as the rest of the people”.
On the other hand, he has reported that, within the poster, there is a QR code where a guide is displayed where all the information that has to do with forms of gender violence appears, what are the different forms of male violence, how to detect it and information to see how we can act in each of the cases: “If we have a situation of serious gender-based violence, or if the situation is not serious but a person transfers us that may be in a situation of harassment and that needs to be accompanied, even if they do not want to report… and, therefore, all the information about how to act also for the bunkers themselves is taken off,” he explained.
On the other hand, Laura Segura has transferred that fans will be distributed with that QR code, as well as easy-to-read fans for those people who have functional diversity or some disability and who want to access that guide.
The Head of Unit has called on society to attend this fair on an equal footing, to have a fair safe and free from male violence and has sent a message to women to “come to the fair with peace and security that this will be a fair safe and free from male violence”, while asking men for their involvement and to become aware that this is something that affects the whole society.