Feminist activist and trafficking survivor Amelia Tiganus gave a lecture this Thursday in Lanzarote on 'The sexual freedom of women from a feminist perspective', as part of the activities programmed by the Department of Youth, Education and Equality of the Cabildo for International Women's Day.
In the event, which took place at the San Bartolomé Municipal Theater, Tiganus went back to the origins of patriarchy to explain how prostitution arose and how it has been transformed to this day, becoming "a criminal multinational."
"It is a reality that affects all women," said the feminist activist, who stated that "today pornography and prostitution move more money than drugs and weapons."
In this regard, Amelia Tiganus made a call to keep "our eyes wide open," assuring that currently, with new technologies, women trafficking networks "are trying to capture our teenagers through virtual platforms."
"They pressure them from flattery, pushing them to create pornographic content to then upload it to platforms and destroy them," said Tiganus, who warned about the "many suicides" of young people that are being registered and that "have to do with this."
"We have a very great duty to care for and educate girls, but also to protect boys," said the feminist activist, who explained how through pornography "unthinkable moral barriers" are being crossed.
"Not only are prostitutes made, but also whoremongers and sexual aggressors," added Amelia Tiganus, who read a fragment from her book 'The Revolt of the Whores' to expose the need to "create and bring references closer" to men so that "they learn to be good people."
Tiganus concluded her lecture by demanding "a comprehensive law to abolish prostitution and a reform of the Penal Code that prosecutes all forms of pimping." She also stressed the need to work to discourage the demand for prostitution "through education and awareness" and demanded policies of "prevention, protection and reparation for victims" and that "whoremongers be considered sexual aggressors and be fined"
The situation of prostitution in Lanzarote
The situation of prostitution in Lanzarote was also made visible at the event, through a short film made by the Cabildo in collaboration with Doctors of the World. An NGO that in 2021 assisted 395 women in prostitution on the island, most of them migrants in an irregular administrative situation with family responsibilities and stories of poverty and violence behind them.
From the Cabildo they point out that in the video, in addition to collecting these figures and exposing that Spain "is the first European country and the third in the world in the consumption of prostitution", voice was given to women "who are in a situation of prostitution on the island and who offered their testimonies".
With this short film, the Cabildo points out that it wanted to show this reality so that the society of Lanzarote "does not live oblivious to it" and express its commitment "to work for the abolition of prostitution."
"Prostitution is a reality that exists and that exists here in Lanzarote," said the Inclusion technician of Doctors of the World, Natalia González, after the screening of the video, who explained the work that this NGO has been doing for two decades on the island "attending to the needs of women in prostitution and carrying out an empowerment process with them."
Likewise, the representative of Doctors of the World made a call to the institutions. "The administrations must know that these women exist, they have to listen to them, and they have to carry out policies that meet their needs," she demanded.
The event was presented by Rocío Garrigós and was attended by the president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, María Dolores Corujo, the Minister of Education, Youth and Equality, Myriam Barros, and the head of the area of Social Welfare, Isabel Martín, as well as other political representatives of the institution and the island.