The PSOE and IU groups denounced the suppression in the city of Toledo of the “historic march” of 25N, on the occasion of the International Day of Gender Violence. Thus, the Municipal Socialist Group of Toledo City Hall denounced “the serious setback represented by the equality policy promoted by the municipal government of the PP and Vox. The abolition of the Department of Equality, the shameless plagiarism of the Third Equality Plan, the invisibility of the LGTBI community, the banning of the rainbow flag and the elimination of the 25N protest march are acts which clearly show the objective of this government: to dismantle decades. progress in terms of rights and freedoms.
“The decision to boycott the International Day Against Gender Violence is not only a betrayal of the women of Toledo, but a direct attack on the dignity of the victims of gender-based violence and those who work every day to eradicate it” , denounced the vice-socialist. spokesperson Ana Abellánto underline that this 25N, “the mayor, in the service of a negationist extreme right, is trying to silence the clamor of those who are fighting against a scourge which has cost the lives of 40 women so far this year”.
For Abellán, “eliminating the 25N march is a shameful act that reveals the true face of this government: a government that disdains feminist achievements and abandons its responsibility to protect women. “His mockery of the Local Women’s Council, a body that for 30 years has been a bastion of dialogue and proposals, is not only a lack of respect, but an attempt to silence the voices that defend equality.”
From the PSOE “we demand that the mayor and his team immediately rectify these intolerable decisions and we remind them that the fight for equality is not negotiable nor can it be the subject of political marketing with Vox. Facing its setback, feminism will continue to move forward with greater force, because no woman in Toledo is prepared to back down. They are not going to silence us. We are not going to give up. We will continue to defend a just, egalitarian city free of sexist violence,” concluded the vice-spokesperson.
IU also criticized the government team. “It only took you a year to eliminate a 30-year-old protest in Toledo.” This is how the representative of Izquierda Unida to the Local Women’s Council responded bluntly: Elisa Fernández, to the Whatshapp that the advisor for Social Affairs, Inclusion, Family and Elderly, Marisol Illescas, sent Friday afternoon to the organizations and political groups members of the Local Women’s Council to inform, “unilaterally” and “ignorant and failing to respect”, of the cancellation of the demonstration that the Local Women’s Council traditionally convenes every November 25 to commemorate the International Day Against Gender Violence.
Elisa Fernándezwhich did not give credence to the modalities of execution of this decision, “rejects the validity of the argument used to eliminate this historic manifestation and which is based on the realization of some works on the rise of Calle Real del Arrabal through which vehicle circulation is already permitted. “This decision was taken unilaterally without consulting the Local Women’s Council,” Fernández criticized, and this means that “for the first time in 30 years, the Local Women’s Council will not organize a demonstration in its name against the violence of gender”.
These facts show, according to Elisa Fernandez, that “co-governance with a party that denies sexist violence has too much weight in our municipal council and imposes priorities, without feminism and the fight against gender violence being part of it”, he censors . The representative of Izquierda Unida in the Local Women’s Council also recalls the lack of commitment of the highest municipal representative in matters of equality and defense of women’s rights since “last year the mayor was not there, and This year he wasn’t there.” There isn’t even a demonstration. »
To replace the demonstration, which, according to Elisa Fernández, will break a tradition of three decades, it was decided to organize a commemorative act at the Corral de Don Diego and at the Salon Rico at 6:00 p.m. A change in the format of this commemoration which confirms the direction of the Municipal Council “in the fight against gender violence and the importance of preserving historical spaces for mobilization on this key date”, he criticizes.
In this regard, he condemns the “unilateral” change of an act which “will make women’s fight against gender-based violence totally invisible on a day as important as 25N”. And Elisa Fernández defends that the women’s organizations that are members of this Council should maintain their visibility during the 25N, “in recognition of the work they are doing and have been doing for years in the fight against gender-based violence.”
He therefore encourages citizens to pursue their demands and participate in the demonstration called by the feminist movement Plateforme 8M, who confirmed that it will depart from La Vega towards Zocodover at 6:00 p.m.
