International Women's Day is an important date to vindicate the role of women in society. The Canary Islands Institute of Equality has been working on the recognition of women's achievements and their treatment and visibility in the media. "What we want to convey is that women have identity and history," its director Ana Brito told La Voz.
Through the campaign 'Hello, I Exist!', created especially for the celebration of this day, the Institution highlights the two main objectives that they want to "make visible" with the campaign. To publicize the achievements of Canarian women in the professional field and make them the main protagonists. "We must put women as protagonists of their know-how" and emphasize that "women alone have capabilities, achievements and a name," the director stressed.
In addition, an initiative focused through three spots, focused on the modification of the treatment of information published in the media. News that sometimes "does not highlight what women achieve in their professional lives," Brito said. "It is not the wife of a well-known footballer who opens a restaurant, it is she with 15 years of experience as a chef who opens it,” she wanted to emphasize as an example of change.
Brito stresses the need to "show the values of women" and to reject the figure of the man above that of the woman. "We are against the fact that that patriarchal part of being the daughter of..., wife of..., etc. continues to exist,” she added. One of the clear examples of inequality in the field of higher education is the "small number" of women doctors honoris causa that exist. In Spanish universities, the number of women recognized as doctors honoris causa does not exceed 7%. "I was lucky enough to attend the appointment of eleven women doctors honoris causa at the University of Las Palmas," an act through which she recalled that "until now there were only 44 male doctors and three women,” Brito explained.
For the director, it is worth pointing out that "equality and education" go hand in hand. To educate in equality it is necessary to instill it from schools. "It should start at an early age, precisely in school,” she revealed. The school is a fundamental part of the "reinforcement" of that teaching, although it is in the family nucleus in the area in which the first foundations must be established. "The basis is achieved in the family,” she added.
The Canary Islands Institute of Equality contributes its grain of sand so that schools develop different activities to promote equality. "We send a lot of information to distribute to schools, ensuring that all the news can arrive as much as possible." In addition, there is also the figure of a person specialized in all schools. “Each school has its equality axis, in all of them there is a person appointed to work on it,” she revealed.
On social networks to go further
From the Equality Agency they are present in many areas to be able to inform and raise awareness. Social networks are one of the important points to publicize their work and reach young people and adults. "We are on all social networks, also in the media and in written and digital press,” she commented.
The carnival festivities of 2024 in Lanzarote have been a good time to continue carrying out initiatives in favor of equality. "It is the first time that we have done a Carnival campaign on the buses,” she recalled. A project with a motto based on consent in personal relationships and focused on the prevention of sexual violence. 'No is no! Also in Carnival', an awareness. A fundamental initiative to continue remembering the importance of respecting the wishes of the other, and even more so taking into account the festive context of the Carnivals. “Every time there are crowds there are difficulties,” the director stressed.
There are many types of violence exerted on women such as physical, psychological, family violence, among many others. The director wanted to highlight economic violence, one of the types of violence that is least visible. A violence based on exercising complete control of money and the economic resources or activities of the other person, specifically by their partner. From the Institution for which Brito is responsible, they celebrate that "more and more women know the places they should go to,” the main reason why "calls for complaints and information are increasing,” and therefore cases like those mentioned above are no longer so unknown.
From the Institute they try to help victims identify their own personal cases. “We advise women and we are attentive to the requests of associations to improve our work,” she pointed out. They are responsible for offering victims information, attention and a place to turn to, as they are aware of the difficulty in doing so without help. “It is very difficult for a woman to recognize that she suffers violence,” she said.
Attention to victims of gender violence in Lanzarote last 2023
The Institute has compiled the data of care for victims of gender violence on the island in 2023. They have several resources such as the Immediate Attention Service of the telephone 1-1-2, Emergency Device for Abused Women (DEMA) the Insular Center for Equality and Attention to Women (SIAM), and two other centers such as the CAI and CA, in addition to a Information, guidance and attention service for women in prostitution and victims of trafficking.
Taking stock of the year 2023 in Lanzarote, a total of 237 people have been attended by the different resources, specifically 197 women and 40 minors. In the case of women victims of Gender Violence, 123 attentions have been counted. While in minors, the figures are lower with 25 cases, 12 girls and 13 boys who required service.
From the DEMA 42 women and 5 minors have been helped, in the SIAM 123 women and 25 minors have been attended, in the CAI, 20 women and 5 minors and in the CA, 12 women and 5 minors.
Among the type of violence exerted on women on the island, 110 women have asked for help for suffering psychological violence, 74 for physical violence, 23 of them for sexual violence and another 22 women for economic violence, according to the data collected throughout last year.
The director has clarified that the specialized centers provide support and advice to women and minors, but also to the "families who wish to receive it." "The help is always psychological, with social workers pending to provide accompaniment,” she concluded.
