The delegate of the Government has delivered the ‘Menina Basque Country 2025 Awards’ at the Aquarium of San Sebastián to the College of Psychology of Bizkaia, to the prosecutor Camino Méndez Sánchez and to the City of Lasarte-Oria

The delegate of the Government in the Basque Country, Marisol Garmendia, today presided over the presentation of the ‘Menina Basque Country Awards’ at an event held at the Aquarium of San Sebastián in which the work carried out in the fight against gender violence by the College of Psychology of Bizkaia, the City of Lasarte-Oria and the prosecutor of gender violence in Álava has been rewarded.

This event promoted by the Ministry of Equality has been held for nine years and is the culmination of the Purple Autumn campaign launched by the Government Delegation in the Basque Country in recent months to raise awareness in the fight against Gender Violence around the International Day of Violence against Women, which is commemorated on November 25. Begoña Rueda, dean of the College of Psychology of Biscay, Agustín Valdivia, mayor of Lasarte-Oria, and prosecutor Camino Méndez Sánchez have received the awards.

“You are examples of commitment to women beyond your professional duties as prosecutors, psychologists and psychologists and mayors and public servants. And we must recognize this because it is not always known and valued enough by the whole of society,” said Marisol Garmendia.

In her speech, the delegate of the Government of Spain has shown her concern about the fact that “there are still too many women to be something and there is still much to achieve equality of parity for those of us who are more than half of the population”. A speech about the social injustice that persists in our society “despite the firm feminist commitment and the efforts being made by the Government of Spain that I represent”.

Garmendia has expressed her “memory and pain” for the five women murdered in the Basque Country so far this year and for the more than 5,000 victims of violence registered in the Basque Country. “How can I not be hurt, as a woman, by her murders, her suffering, her truncated or frightened lives? How can I not worry, as a woman and government delegate, that we will not be able to eradicate this male violence?”

A day of solidarity and empathy with the victims of male violence and of recognition to those who fight so hard to eradicate it. “We are all united by a vital thread woven by the hands of women from the beginning of humanity, since man is man and woman is woman. We are united by the strength and the physical and mental resistance of knowing ourselves equal to men, despite the inequalities, gaps and discriminations that we still suffer; we are united by the invisibility imposed by a masculinized history that erases and silences the important contributions of women to the progress of humanity in all areas; we are united by tenderness, compassion, motherhood, the care that we still monopolise; we are united by being treated as carnal and sexual merchandise, as property of men capable of humiliating, harassing, harassing and murdering women and their daughters and sons,” said the delegate vehemently.

The fight against male violence and inequality continues because “male chauvinism continues to have deep social and cultural roots in our society and what, in my opinion, is more serious: in our young people”. The best remedy to redirect it lies in education, as Marisol Garmendia has advanced. “This award of the Meninas Awards is a good opportunity to appeal to the need to strengthen education in values of Basque youth and the rest of Spain, to reclaim the subject of education for citizenship promoted by President Zapatero and abolished in 2012 by President Rajoy. Education in democratic and constitutional values of equality, respect and coexistence, peace and non-violence, is fundamental to

May our daughters and sons be citizens who are democratically healthy, free, tolerant, responsible and committed to defending the common good and solidarity with the most vulnerable people.”

Young people must be the main subject of this necessary change of values. “We have to be very alert and aware of the parallel toxic realities that the younger generations experience from their mobile screens and the chants of fanatics who, arm in arm, throw soflames full of hatred, violence and humiliation towards the most vulnerable people, including women.

I return to the importance of education, not only in schools, but also in homes, in families…”

And a helping hand to resolve among all this unacceptable scourge in our society. “To all of you, to the men, to the young people, who accompany us in this struggle, which is also yours, for the equality of all people and the eradication of male violence. We have advanced a lot and we continue to advance together, women and men, in this journey that has not yet reached the goal, it has not finished. We need to share the path, purposes, policies, laws to achieve full equality and that no more women, no more children, die at the hands of a male chauvinist,” concluded Marisol Garmendia.

Menina Awards 2025 Basque Country

Recognition of the Basque social collective: College of Psychology of Biscay

The College of Psychology of Biscay dates from the year 2001.La its own composition, and not a founding mandate, impels them inescapably to maintain an attitude of constant struggle to continue advancing in equality and in the eradication of any type of violence exercised against women.

Its actions naturally promote ensuring that its members are aware of gender equality and non-discrimination, both in their personal sphere and in their field of professional development, integrating the gender perspective. In June 2009, the Gender Equality Committee of the COP Bizkaia was created.

Recognition of the project or public initiative: City Council of Lasarte-Oria

The city of Lasarte-Oria develops throughout the year multiple programs, campaigns and resources aimed at the promotion of equality between women and men, the prevention of male violence and social awareness in the general public. The actions are articulated in collaboration with educational centers, youth associations, sports clubs, hotels, the different social agents and the psychosocial unit of the municipality.

The actions developed in Lasarte-Oria represent a firm and transversal commitment in the fight for gender equality and against all forms of male violence.

The combination of educational programs, awareness campaigns, pedagogical materials, action protocols and support spaces allows us to build a more egalitarian, safe and violence-free community environment.

Recognition to the Basque person: Camino Méndez Sánchez

María del Camino Méndez Sánchez is a prosecutor committed to defending women’s rights and eradicating gender violence. From his position in the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office of Álava, he has publicly denounced the saturation of the Court of Violence against Women in Vitoria, where delays of several months are accumulating. Faced with this situation, it has promoted the creation of a second specialized court, with the aim of ensuring a more agile, dignified and effective care for women who decide to report.

In addition, Méndez Sánchez has shown great concern for the growing negationism among young people, fueled by the use of social networks. She works tirelessly in a context of legislative reform that extends the competences of the courts of violence against women.