The councilors of Social Welfare, Culture and Citizen Participation of the Arrecife City Council, Maite Corujo, Abigail González and Cathaysa Suárez, respectively, presented this morning at the Casa de la Cultura Agustín de la Hoz, a wide program of activities, organized on the occasion of March 8, International Women's Day and which involves three lines of action: Women who inspire conferences and action for equality; Equitable imaginary, days of reflection and citizen participation; Culture and art to make women visible.
The three municipal areas have decided to join efforts and work in a coordinated manner to offer "a diverse, vindictive and culturally enriching program", based on the UN's motto for this year: "For women and girls in all their diversity: Rights, equality and empowerment".
"Women who inspire" conferences and action for equality
The first of the actions to be held will be the Women who inspire conferences, which will take place tomorrow, Friday, March 7 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Casa de la Cultura Agustín de la Hoz.
This initiative, promoted through the Area of Social Welfare, Equality and Immigration, seeks to make visible and recognize the fundamental role of women in different areas of society, promoting dialogue and reflection on gender equality, as explained by the councilor Maite Corujo, during the press conference.
The conferences will be developed in different sessions in which various topics will be addressed through talks, round tables and readings of works written by women.
The program will begin with the reading of the book Women by its author, Mare Cabrera. Subsequently, the journalist and audiovisual director Concha de Ganzo will present the talk The ladies of..., where she will address the role of women in different historical and social contexts. The day will continue with the screening of the video The Port of Arrecife and will culminate with a round table on fishing, in which Carmen Déniz, director of the Arrecife Maritime Fisheries Institute; Yazmina Gutiérrez, active professional fisherwoman; and Oti Martín, daughter of the historic foreman Lola Cedrés, will participate.
Another of the sessions will include the reading of Eliza by its author, the journalist Myriam Ybot, as well as the intervention of the former politician and teacher Inés Rojas with the presentation Language matters, in which the importance of inclusive language will be analyzed.
In addition, a group of young local leaders will share their vision in the screening They are the change, where Mar Carretero, Ainara Sistiaga, Lana Corujo, Ruth Cavero and Dariam Coco will participate and tell where their professional career has taken them. The conferences will end with the reading of Give me wings by its author, Ico Toledo.
"These conferences are an opportunity to reflect on the challenges we still face in terms of equality, but also to make visible and celebrate the achievements of so many women who have made a difference in our society," said Maite Corujo.
On the other hand, a campaign to raise awareness and prevent gender violence will be launched through an educational video that will be disseminated on social networks and other communication media; a campaign that will be in force throughout the year and that includes an explanatory brochure on the different types of gender violence, from psychological violence to economic, physical, sexual, digital, obstetric, vicarious, digital violence and the so-called second-order violence.
"Our objective is twofold: on the one hand, to commemorate the struggle of women for the elimination of any form of discrimination and, on the other hand, to raise awareness in society to promote an egalitarian and violence-free municipality," said Corujo.
Equitable imaginary: days of reflection and citizen participation
For her part, from the Department of Citizen Participation, Cathaysa Suárez highlighted the "Equitable Imaginary" conferences, which will take place from March 11 to 13 in 'El Zaguán', and which will offer a series of activities focused on gender equity and the empowerment of women.
On March 11, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., there will be a Storytelling with Silvia Torrents and Óscar Tiraida from Tenerife, who will present "The Secret Book of Women".
On March 12, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:15 p.m., Alisa Pérez will offer the talk entitled "Women on the island: flows, body and territory in the Canary Islands". Subsequently, from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., the conference "The peace that women build" will take place, organized by WILPF Spain (International Women's League for Peace) with the participation of Laura Alonso and Manuela Mesa.
On March 13, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., "Exit, a short film à la carte" by Beatriz Santiago and Adrián Silvestre, an interactive film with migrant women, will be screened. This event will include a debate moderated by the migrant women's collective of Lanzarote.
For Cathaysa Suárez, these conferences represent a unique opportunity to reflect on the role of women in society and promote an equitable imaginary. "It is essential to generate spaces for dialogue and reflection on the role of women in our society, with special emphasis on diversity and the active participation of all," she said.
Culture and art to make women visible
Finally, the Department of Culture, directed by Abigail González, has organized a series of cultural events that will take place throughout the month of March, with the aim of "giving space to culture as a tool for reflection and empowerment of women, rescuing their stories and voices", said González.
Highlights include the two Film Forum days (March 8 and 24) with the screening at the Casa de la Cultura Agustín de la Hoz of the documentary Forgotten Women, focused on the situation of helplessness experienced by various women in Spain during the first quarter of the 20th century and directed by Jacobo Echeverría Torres.
The screenings will be complemented by the talks that will be given by two of the participants in the aforementioned documentary: on Saturday, March 8 at 7:30 p.m., through videoconference with the singer and politician, Rosa León and on Monday, March 24 at 8:00 p.m., in person, with the labor lawyer Francisca 'Paquita' Sauquillo Pérez del Arco.
Other proposals from Cultura Arrecife to commemorate 8M will be: the concert Echoes of Women, by the Acatife Cultural Association (March 9 at 7:00 p.m. in La Plazuela); and the poetic-musical montage To have a voice by Lorena López (March 15 at 7:30 p.m. in the Casa de la Cultura Agustín de la Hoz).
8M Concentration and demonstration
After the presentation of the City Council's own program, the capital city councilors recalled that, as every year, on March 8 the concentration and demonstration will be held in La Plazuela, organized by Mararía, the 8M Lanzarote Feminist Platform and the Forum against Gender Violence, with the support of the Department of Social Welfare, Equality and Immigration, and invited all citizens to join these activities to commemorate International Women's Day and continue advancing towards a more just and egalitarian society.
