Photos: Sergio Betancort
"For the first time in 24 years, we have felt accompanied in the street and in the feminist claim. That shows us that so much work has not been in vain." With these words, the president of the Mararía women's association, Nieves Rosa Hernández, concluded the balance of the 2017-18 financial year at the ordinary assembly held on Wednesday afternoon.
During the assembly, the annual management was approved, Hernández was renewed as president for the next three years, and some changes were introduced in the board of directors. In addition, the women paid a heartfelt tribute to one of its founders, Rosa Mesa, who has inaugurated the gallery of honorary members and who was presented with violet flowers and an effusive applause.
"The demonstrations promoted by women's platforms throughout the State have found an unprecedented echo on the island, which proves that our sustained and constant work for a quarter of a century, the awareness projects in educational centers, the permanent denunciation of inequality and the advice to victims, are bearing fruit," Nieves Rosa Hernández defended in her speech.
But if the massive social support for the demands for equal opportunities and against gender violence is a reason for satisfaction for the group, the figures for reports of mistreatment on the island show that there is still a long way to go.
As reported by the vice president of Mararía, Carmen Delia Reyes, in 2017, 566 crimes and 54 misdemeanors related to violence against women were registered in Lanzarote; the Canary Islands was the fourth community in the rate of women victims of sexist aggressions.
In this scenario, the feminist association has once again denounced the lack of means for the care of this group and the scarcity of resources from the administrations. At the same time, the role of volunteering was vindicated, the backbone and guarantee of the continuity of Mararía's projects.