A total of 22 women with 19 dependent minors, victims of gender violence or in situations of extreme vulnerability, stayed in 2024 in the three supervised apartments managed by the Mararía association, thanks to the financing of the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the Government of the Canary Islands. The accommodation resources are temporarily allocated to the restitution of autonomous life, with the aim of achieving social inclusion, avoiding institutionalization and offering psychological support and job search.
“These are figures that show that patriarchal abuse continues to be a very serious social problem, which requires resources, awareness and educational attention in schools,” said the president of the entity, Nieves Rosa Hernández. In her management balance speech before the general assembly, she highly valued the effort made throughout the last year and the fruits reaped by the team of workers and volunteers.
She also highlighted that in 2024, Mararía participated in 20 violet points in different festivals, local parties and events, “a measure to prevent sexist behaviors, harassment, abuse and sexual assaults that is increasingly common, which shows the increase in concern about these behaviors and the need to offer support, accompaniment and referral to the appropriate services for women who request it.”
The Councilor for Social Welfare and Inclusion of the Cabildo, Marci Acuña, present at the meeting, stated “the will of the first Corporation to progress in the signing of a social agreement that guarantees the financing and stability of the women's organization and its purpose of reaching where the institution does not reach”. Along these lines, he announced that in the coming days personnel from the Ministry of Social Rights will travel to the island to facilitate the management of the accreditations required by law for the signing of agreements to the third sector. He also took the opportunity to announce that the 24-hour Crisis Center for victims of sexual violence will be launched next week in Arrecife.
5,100 beneficiaries
The ordinary and extraordinary annual assemblies corresponding to the period 2024-25 were held on this occasion in the halls of the Casa del Miedo in Arrecife. The women attendees unanimously approved the management of the board of directors in the last year, with the development of projects and initiatives that directly benefited 5,100 people.
Between May 2024 and May 2025, the feminist entity offered talks and workshops to address inequality and promote effective and real equality in educational centers, training modules and social groups. The 30 places of the entity's volunteer training course with a gender perspective were filled and 65 people attended the training and reflection days “Keys for the prevention and intervention in sexual violence: identification and management of critical knots”.
The Information Center and Comprehensive Advice services for women intervened on 2,293 occasions, with the provision of psychological, social, legal, labor and prevention consultations and a total of 390 open files.
On the other hand, the management of Mararía informed the assembly of the reactivation of the neighborhood meeting calls “Buchito de Café”, a place for the exchange of opinions and leisure experiences for people of all ages, which together with the Meeting Place for women of San Bartolomé is sponsored by the Department of Equality of that City Council. And in line with the proximity work, the Comprehensive Advice project of Tías with individualized legal and psychological support and awareness and prevention activities against gender violence is considered consolidated. Yaiza and Haría also signed collaborations for the care of women in their municipalities.
