“Every excuse sustains and perpetuates violence against women.” The Provincial Director of the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports (MEFPyD) of Melilla, participated this lunchtime in the event “Excusas”, organized by the School of Arts in the Plaza Menéndez Pelayo on November 25 and which counted the participation of all the educational centers of the city, and attended by the Delegate of the Government, Sabrina Moh, as well as the Head of the Unit Against Violence on Women, Laura Segura.
In his speech, Fernández Treviño highlighted activities such as today’s, since he speaks “of excuses and also of negationism”, stressing that gender violence “does not stop only with blows, with silences or with fear”, but also “is sustained with justifications, with repeated phrases to the point of exhaustion, with ideas that society has normalized and that function as walls that prevent progress”.
She has denounced expressions such as “it is a private matter”, “she chose to stay” or “if it were so serious I would have denounced it before”, remembering that behind these phrases there are “threats”, “thousands of invisible chains”, and that denouncing “is not a simple act, which involves risking life, stability and sometimes even credibility”.
He has also warned against the argument “not all men are like that”, which, despite being “true but obvious”, can “divert attention from the real problem”. As he said, “society has been filled with excuses not to see, not to act, not to get bothered, not to change.”
The head of the Provincial Directorate has affirmed that “excuses do not save lives, excuses do not protect women, nor those who fear to return home”, and has insisted that “gender violence is not inevitable, it is not a misunderstanding, it is not an accident, it is not a matter of madmen, it is a responsibility, a reality that demands collective responsibility”.
In his message, he has repeatedly stressed that “every time someone justifies the aggressor, he perpetuates violence”, alluding to situations such as doubting the victim, keeping quiet so as not to intervene or attack those who work for equality. “We cannot afford to remain passive accomplices, we must break those excuses one by one,” he said.
Respect is not negotiable
He also pointed out that “respect is not negotiable”, that “love does not hurt”, and that equality “is not a theory, but must be a daily practice”. He has argued that “accompanying a victim is believing, listening to and sustaining her,” and that prevention begins “much earlier,” “in schools, in homes, in the way we educate,” and in small everyday gestures.
The Provincial Director recalled that “every life lost, every woman silenced, every boy and girl who grows up seeing violence is the responsibility of everyone and everyone” and called for a collective commitment: “There are no more excuses, no more justifications, no more silence.”
Fernández Treviño thanked the activity organized by the School of Art, highlighting the work of those responsible for equality in educational centers and their teams: “There are no excuses anymore. Let’s change the world.”
In addition to Treviño, the head of Equality of Miguel Marmolejo, Sara Andrés, has proceeded to read a story from the person of Ana Orantes, “who dared to pull the thread”, and from “the vision of that childhood that does not deserve a world like the one we are leaving”.
The event had representations of relief figures that filled the square, on which could be read phrases that hide the male chauvinistic behaviors and the justification of violence against women and children.