The celebration of 25N, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, flooded the streets of Galicia with tides of lilac on Monday, with more than a dozen demonstrations and protests called to reject any type of aggression because of sex. And not only society, but also institutions are committed to spreading a spirit of awareness and involvement so that the date remains present “all year round”.
The weather was not the most permissive, a condition visible from the morning. The tone of the day was gray skies, cold, and intermittent rain that became more frequent as the hours passed as temperatures also dropped. The first concentration began at 6:30 p.m. Pedra de Carnota Square, and two others followed her Vigo and Fene –in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento–, both at 7:00 p.m. The first, called by the Resposta Feminista platform, left Via Norte. And at this same starting point, but an hour later, a second march followed; this, organized by the Network of Neighborhood Mullers Against Bad Treatment of Vigo.
In fact, most protests were called for 8:00 p.m. From the Obelisk of La Coruña One of the members of the Galician Feminist Platform and the World March of Mulleres started and walked through the urban center to the Galicia Square, with the slogan “For a present and a future without sexist violence”. The same entities call another in the Praza 8 de Marzo in the Galician capital –incorporating the Feminist Assembly of Compostela–; and, only the march, a third in front of the Government Sub-delegation in Orense.
In Lugo, in Horta do Seminario square, The Feminist Platform of Lugo organized its own under the slogan “Institutional Abuse = Double Patriarchal Violence”. Other mobilizations in Cee, Ribadeo, Ponteceso, Laxe, Vilalba, Nigrán and Vilagarcía completed the 8:00 p.m. agenda. The last ones, at 8:30 p.m., were in Lalín and O Carballiño.
In wrestling “all year round”
In addition to street visits, on Monday a wide range of institutional events have been scheduled for the 25N. An example is the one kept by the Xunta at the Gaiás Museum in Santiago, featuring three women victims of gender violence who shared their experiences. Finally, the Minister of Social Policy and Equality, Fabiola García, described the event as “shocking” and “harsh”, but necessary to stimulate reflection.
With the testimonies of women “who did not hide, who came forward and broke taboos,” she said, “we become much stronger.” In this sense, in its official statement, the Galician government rejected gender violence as an “attack on the integrity, dignity and freedom of women” for the simple fact of being a woman” and called for having the “priority” of working “constantly every day of the year” to eradicate it. To achieve this, measures are being promoted, such as, he said, the five crisis centers open 24 hours a day for assistance to victims of sexual violence which will soon open in A Coruña, Lugo, Orense, Pontevedra and Santiago.
In the same sense, betting on a continuous effort, the government delegate, Pedro Blanco, spoke. The socialist called extend the mind after Monday celebrations “to every day of the year” “intensify awareness and involvement in society and move towards “a 25N, not too distant, in which it can be said that there is no type of discrimination nor any type of sexist crime; and that, of course, there is no form of violence against women, whether physical, mental, economic or indirect.
For its part, the BNG accompanied the anniversary with the presentation, by its national spokesperson, Ana Pontón, of a set of “twenty-five proposals” linked to legislation against gender violence and aid to the victims. Questioned by journalists, Pontón defended that, despite the division of concentrations on Monday, All feminists share “a clear and common horizon”: that of “fighting sexist violence”; and the goal, once again, to achieve “that the 365 days of the year are on November 25.”
