The Local Committee of Nueva Canarias-Bloque Canarista (NC-BC) in the municipality of Arrecife has conveyed to the government group of the capital of Lanzarote its proposal to create "a network of safe spaces" for women in the capital, through the Sociocultural Centers of the neighborhoods.
For the Canarian nationalists, the current urban and social planning of Arrecife is "far from a gender perspective and a city of care as it has many unsafe spaces and lacks public infrastructures oriented to the needs of women, where these historically and culturally have been relegated to the sphere of the private home".
“Talking about rethinking neighborhoods from a gender perspective means taking into account that public environments, the habitats where we live together in society, are also marked by gender and domination roles. The lack of street lighting, open spaces or squares can be elements of privilege or discrimination”, said Sheila Guillén, who points to the importance of “generating inclusive spaces that respond to the needs of women from all areas, and that constitute spaces for meeting and social coexistence among them”.
Thus, the Canarian nationalists have proposed small actions such as creating a network of "safe spaces" around the Sociocultural Centers of the capital in order for them to be places where women from the neighborhoods can be, exchange experiences, participate in public affairs and where aid networks are built that improve the perception of security.
“The vital reality of women is diverse and is found in the neighborhoods of Arrecife. Housewives; caregivers of dependent people; single parents with difficulties in reconciling work and family life; racialized women who feel discriminated against both in the workplace and institutionally; trans women; in situations of gender violence; who suffer prostitution; older women in unwanted loneliness; or young people unemployed or precarious. We all have in common the need to fight for recognition and equality”, said Sheila Guillén.
For this reason, NC-BC has requested the Arrecife City Council to study the proposal to create a network of "safe spaces" and enable the Sociocultural Centers of the neighborhoods with a longer schedule, since currently those that are open only do so from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. In addition, they have demanded a diversification of the activities offered, which are intergenerational and aimed at building community and coexistence.
“The socio-cultural animators enabled cannot be performing concierge or secretarial tasks, but must carry out their activity based on a program aimed at all the residents of the neighborhood and taking into account the social, economic, labor and vital environment of the same”, Sheila Guillén sentenced.
Talk-workshop: “real feminism is intersectional”
From the island secretariat of equality and sexual diversity of NC-BC, led by Montse Cedrés, the population and groups of Lanzarote are encouraged to attend the talk-workshop that the activist and influencer Nicole will give on Thursday, March 7 at 6:00 p.m. at the island headquarters of the Canarian nationalists, located at Calle Blanco Ibáñez 31 in the Altavista neighborhood.
The talk is part of the commemorative events of March 8, International Women's Day, where NC-BC urges Canarian society as a whole to take to the streets to demand and continue fighting for full equality between men and women and for an island-home with a feminist perspective.
NC-BC in Lanzarote wanted this year to support "intersectional feminism", which claims a multidisciplinary analysis of the movement taking into account realities such as race, sexual orientation or class and not only the characteristics related to the gender hierarchy. This vision of feminism aims to know the true living conditions of all women, ensuring that no woman is also excluded within the feminist movement.