- A round table this Friday in Vitoria and a meeting on Thursday in Bilbao, have helped to make visible and value the work of women in the National Police, the Civil Guard, the Army and the AGE in the Basque Country
- The delegate of the Government in the Basque Country states that "the Government of Spain is committed to the fight for equality of women in all areas of Basque and Spanish society"
On the occasion of the celebration of the 8M, the delegate of the Government of Spain in the Basque Country, Marisol Garmendia, has brought together women from the General Administration of the State and from the Security Forces and Corps to make visible their presence and the relevance of their work in the Basque Country.
As Delegate Marisol Garmendia underlines, “the General Administration of the State in the Basque Country is mostly female, with more women than men in the different bodies and functional areas, and that practically equals in managerial positions, something unthinkable a few years ago. And in the Security Corps, the presence of women is also increasing significantly.”
For the first time, around International Women’s Day, women members of the National Police, the Civil Guard and the Army have participated today in Vitoria-Gasteiz in a meeting with the Government delegate, to share experiences and common challenges on the road to real equality between women and men. “A presence of women in the Security Corps and FF AA in the Basque Country that is the largest in all of Spain, something that we must celebrate, applaud and continue to promote” in the words of Marisol Garmendia.
In the National Police, 14.45% of the troops in the Basque Country are women. In the Civil Guard, women currently account for 13.2% of the total number of personnel assigned in the Basque Country. And in the Army, the percentage of women present in the Basque Country is 10%.
As the delegate of the Government stresses, “very important steps are being taken with women of great value and qualification in the chains of command of the Security Corps and the Army in the Basque Country, but we have to continue working to increase this presence until we reach complete equalization,” says Marisol Garmendia.
Equality that has already been achieved in the General Administration of the State in the Basque Country, in which 64% of the people currently working are women. At the managerial level, the percentage of women practically reaches parity, with 48%.
A large representation of these women from the AGE also met, for the first time on Thursday in Bilbao, in the Subdelegation of Bizkaia, in a meeting that symbolized, in the opinion of Marisol Garmendia, “the strength of the women of the General Administration of the State in the Basque Country, their commitment to public service and to the defense of equal opportunities and rights for all women”.
“Women are half of the population and it is social and political justice that recognizes our worth and competence to work and manage any area of life with the same job opportunities, the same wages and the same responsibilities.”
“The Spanish Government presided over by Pedro Sánchez is demonstrating with facts, with concrete measures and policies that the defense of women’s equality is a just cause, essential to continue strengthening the democratic values of cohesion and social justice. I myself am an example of this as the first woman to be appointed delegate of the Government in the Basque Country. We have to continue working to keep breaking glass ceilings and let there be fewer and fewer first times for women.”