“With the talks of the Master Plan we act for the prevention, but we also act for the detection, of violence not only in the couple relationships that the students may be having, but also of the violence that they may be giving in their own homes.”
The Head of the Coordination Unit Against Violence Against Women of the Government Delegation in Melilla, Laura Segura, in an interview granted to Television Melilla, has taken stock of the talks of the Master Plan for Coexistence and Improvement of Security in Educational Centers and their Environments that are being developed by the Provincial Directorate of the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports (MEFPyD) that the Coordination Unit teaches and that ended on May 7.
“We have given talks to 40 groups in the city and the balance is very positive”, he acknowledged, while pointing out that this type of initiative is not only focused on students since it is important that the claustro or the associations of mothers and fathers “make contact with prevention”.
Segura, who has defended co-education from the earliest ages, has acknowledged her satisfaction with the holding of these talks in which the students “consider things that, perhaps until now, they did not do and, in turn, we detect situations of violence”.
In this way, the denunciation is encouraged, while this students are helped to be able to see all situations of violence and to be aware of these violence may be nearby in their environment.
“Physical violence is seen, rejected, condemned, while violence of control, emotional blackmail, or violence that has to do with isolation, with devaluation… do not detect it as violence,” he said. However, when in the talks we pose them as those first steps that go up the ladder of violence and that lead directly to gender violence, they clearly see that they can be clear indicators of violence and how they have to act.”
As Segura explained, “these are talks mainly to explain to them a reality that exists in our society, with data, and that they understand that they are active agents in change”.
“They are fundamental talks for education, for students of these ages and the ideal would be to be able to cover many more ages and that they were contents that were given in the day-to-day in the classroom and not in specific moments,” he said.
Society support
During the interview, Segura praised the IV Walk For and For Equality organized by the CEIP Hippodrome and in which a dozen educational centers in the city have collaborated.
“The active career has been a success from the beginning, but it is true that other educational centers are being incorporated, which we value very positively and I think that, every year, they are going to add more,” he said.
Segura, who has valued the work of the CEIP Hipodromo, Juan Montañés, and the center’s cloister, has excelled both in the prevention of the actions and situations of violence that they can detect in the center and also with prevention, for which he has shown his gratitude to this educational center and the rest of the centers of the city for their commitment against male violence.
Specifically, with regard to the Walk, he stressed that “they have managed to make it not only a teaching activity, but they have been implicating businesswomen, singers, and leading figures in Melilla”, he celebrated. “It is an activity that is involving more and more parts of society and that allows students to see that the work that is done every day is not only a work of center, but has to be a work of society and of city,” he said.
Coordination and response
In another order of things, Segura has broken down the tasks that, from the Unit that he directs, are carried out. “The main function of the Unit is to improve the institutional response offered to women victims of gender-based violence, as well as their children and children,” he said.
Thus, she has pointed out that direct attention to women victims must be provided from the women’s centre and from specialized agencies and services, as well as from organizations specializing in gender violence.
“The Unit works to improve the response that is given and to establish the coordination of all the agents involved in gender violence, as well as to see all those who may be susceptible to improvement,” he said.
In addition, the Unit directly monitors each individual case of gender violence in the city, through the VioGén system, which allows us to assess, since a woman denounces a situation of gender violence, what is happening with that case.
“This system receives information from different agents, from the State Security Forces and Bodies, from the Penitentiary Center in case the aggressor has been deprived of liberty and they are notified when there is a release, so that the victim is at any time informed, it also involves monitoring the specialized social service that is doing the accompaniment and that allows us to predict what risk that victim has of being raped again,” he said.
This VioGen system establishes the level of risk of the victim, prevention and action measures, as well as follow-up in protection, explained Laura Segura.
However, in addition to violence in the context of the couple or former couple, the Unit monitors gender violence in all forms: sexual violence, statistical analysis, monitoring of asylum situations, women in the context of prostitution, trafficking, sexual exploitation… and, in addition, carries out training for professionals, promoting and reviewing the protocols of action that are being carried out in the city…
Training and awareness
Regarding the training of professionals, Segura has made it clear that it is very important, and that it involves a very important range that has to do with awareness, prevention and action.
“From the Unit what we do, above all, to work on coordination and to know what the needs are, both prevention and training, as well as accompaniment to women victims, we have a series of tables in operation,” he said.
Thus, he has indicated that there is the Police Coordination Table, where the State Security Forces and Bodies are; or the Attention and Intervention Table with Victims of Gender Violence, where all the institutions involved in gender violence are, from Ministry of Equality, State Security Forces and Bodies, Prosecutor’s Office, Court, INGESA, as well as some organizations.
On the other hand, there is the Table of Awareness and Prevention, with universities, trade unions, education, citizen participation… which will also be incorporated by the media as well as the College of Psychologists and Psychologists.
In addition, there is the Bureau of Entities and Organizations, at the local level, with women’s associations. “This table is very important, because through the interinstitutional table, what we have, above all, the violence denounced, but, through the tables with entities and organizations that work at the local level, we have the information of what is happening at street level with the rest of the women, even with those who may not have decided yet to denounce or who are being accompanied by a situation of vulnerability and situations of violence are detected,” he said.
Thus, from the Unit “we see what training is needed and offered, to train and work not only with the professionals of the organizations but also with the users themselves who go to those organizations,” he said.