“This 8M raised our voice in the face of a negationism that denies us as citizens and that seeks to silence us again, we raised our voice with determination, that of those of us who are convinced of our ideals of struggle for equality and are not willing to let them go.”
The Head of the Coordination Unit against Violence against Women, Laura Segura, said that, as every year, the Delegation joins and disseminates the institutional campaign launched by the Ministry of Equality on March 8, through the Women's Institute.
The title of this edition is ‘Our voice. Higher. More clearly. Stronger’. Campaign, he explained, “wants to value unity in the face of destructive attacks, firmness in the face of negationism, the highest, clearest, strongest voice, as an instrument of demand, dialogue, conviction and transformation.”
In the words of Laura Segura, “it is a direct campaign that goes to the root of feminist fundamentals. It reflects how feminism is always at the forefront, with the vocation to continue advancing in rights, with the vocation to integrate, with the vocation to build more and better democracy.”
Firmness versus negationism
The Head of Unit has warned that “this is not just any 8M”, as it is part of the 30th anniversary of the Beijing declaration, “which represented a very significant advance, an unprecedented international consensus to work for the gender equality agenda”.
He also highlighted the renewal of the State Pact against Gender Violence, “with a very broad consensus from which only the extreme right wanted to escape”. “That’s also a clear sign of the moment we find ourselves,” he lamented.
“We arrived at this 8M in a context in which, unfortunately, we have to remember again what we have been told for a long time, and that is that women’s rights cannot be consolidated,” he stressed.
The Head of Unit has stressed the importance of highlighting unity and firmness, “two feminist values”, “at a time when the ultra reaction directly attacks women and the advances in human rights of the feminist movement, and at a time when negationism and irrationality are making their way.”
Keep moving forward on equality
“The message has to be strong for society as a whole: we women are here and we will continue to be here,” he said. “We will continue to move forward to consolidate our rights and to see them expanded,” he said.
Laura Segura has stressed that equality is a constitutional mandate, “a principle, a value and a universal right.” “Women know that we are on the right side of history, which is in the defense of human rights. We know that without equality there is no democracy, and we are not going to give up any of the two things,” he said.
“As every year, on March 8, we remember the rights acquired, thanks to the struggle of many women, and we reaffirm the need to continue moving towards a truly democratic society, without gender gaps, because Equality is the basis of any system that aspires to be fair,” he said.
Intense program
The Head of the Unit, continuing with the activities carried out on the occasion of the 8M commemoration, explained that since yesterday a canvas is displayed on the facade of the Government Delegation with which “one more year we join the voice of women in the streets”.
In addition, the representatives of the General Administration of the State will join the Institutional Declaration on March 8 that will be read in the Palace of the Assembly.
“We urge all institutions and entities, public and private, the media and society in general, to join the call for activism on March 8 and publicly make visible the commitment of all institutions and society for equality and the demands of this very significant day,” he requested.
In addition, the Coordination Unit against Violence against Women will participate in the Conference ‘Women, Profession and Leadership. Knowledge and Challenges in Social and Legal Sciences’, within the Round Table: ‘Economy and Public Administration’, organized by the Committee on Equality, Conciliation and Inclusion of the Faculty of Social and Legal Sciences of Melilla, University of Granada and which will take place on March 10 and 11 at the UGR Campus.
The Unit will also participate in the Conference on Gender Violence: ‘20 years of struggle against an ancestral phenomenon. The reform of gender violence after Organic Law 1/2004’. Activity organized by the UNED of Melilla and which will take place on 12, 13 and 14 March. Where Segura will participate with the presentation ‘The approach to gender violence. Sensitization, Prevention and State Resources to Violence against Women’, on the 12th.
In addition, together with heads of the Government Delegation, it will host the activities programmed by different educational centers in the city, entities and NGOs, such as the Lourdes Carballa awards ceremony, the IX Women's Race, Legal Day on Family Law and Gender Violence…
And, in parallel, as Segura has advanced, the presentations on equality and against gender violence will continue to be developed within the Master Plan for students and families; the presentations at the Temporary Stay of Immigrants Center (CETI) for male and adolescent residents, within the framework of the Protocol on Prevention and Response to Violence against Women of the Humanitarian Care Program, Seed Project, of the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration and UNHCR, which we will develop the following training in the last week of March.
It also continues with the project of the violet suitcases that at the moment are in two centers of the city, one of primary and one of secondary.
“From the Delegation and from the Unit we want to encourage Melilla society to join this March 8 and make each of the claims of feminism heard forcefully,” he concluded.