The Cabildo of Lanzarote wants to raise awareness among citizens on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which is commemorated on November 25. For this reason, the Equality Area, in collaboration with the Department of Social Rights, has programmed different training and awareness activities aimed at both minors and adults. In addition, on Saturday, November 26, the 10th Race against Gender Violence will be held, which has been organized together with the Arrecife City Council.
"Gender violence continues to leave dramatic figures in Spain, with 38 women already murdered by their partners or ex-partners," laments the president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, María Dolores Corujo, who highlights the need for institutions to continue fighting to achieve a society of equals and end all types of violence against women.
"Gender violence unfortunately continues to be installed in our society and it is the task of everyone to become aware of this serious problem and contribute to its eradication," says Myriam Barros, Minister of Equality of the island corporation.
Thus, "informing, denouncing, and offering strategies that serve the purpose of raising awareness, preventing and making visible the problem that violence against women poses in our society is essential," says the Minister of Social Rights, Isabel Martín.
All the activities organized by the Cabildo of Lanzarote to raise awareness among the population on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women are financed by the Canary Islands Institute for Equality (ICI), charged to the Funds of the State Pact against Gender Violence of the Ministry of Equality.
"Creating networks of sisterhood"
"Creating networks of sisterhood" will be one of the initiatives that the Cabildo of Lanzarote will launch and that will consist of the delivery of three workshops, of two hours duration, aimed at women residing mainly in rural areas of the island.
The +Familia Association will impart these workshops, which will address issues such as self-care, empowerment and female associationism. To participate in them it is necessary to register, and registrations can be made here.
Theater to prevent gender violence
Likewise, the Cabildo of Lanzarote will develop a theatrical project in educational centers under the name "Awakening through art", aimed at the prevention, awareness and visibility of gender violence, as well as the promotion of healthy relationships between peer groups, in which Baccalaureate students will participate.
This activity, which will take place on November 28, 29 and 30, will be led by the Teatro Association that heals, an entity formed by professionals from different areas such as theater and performing arts, social psychology, Gestalt psychotherapy, group psychotherapy and pedagogy, among others. The proposal is based on the psycho-scenic approach, through theatrical representation and dramatization, favoring interaction with students and learning of the topics covered in an experiential way.
Workshops for tutored minors
Another of the activities that will be carried out will be a project for the prevention of abuse and sexual assault in tutored minors, consisting of theoretical-practical training actions
Specifically, workshops on affective sexual education will be given, as well as prevention of gender violence in young people, which will be developed during the days 21, 22 and 23 of November.
Awareness and prevention campaigns
Similarly, the Cabildo of Lanzarote will launch an awareness campaign against gender violence, through the installation of information panels in important buildings and greater influx of the municipalities of the island, as it is considered a means of great visual impact for the visibility and support to victims, as well as rejection of the perpetrators of this type of violence.
In addition, in collaboration with Doctors of the World, a prevention campaign against prostitution will also be carried out, aimed particularly at the adolescent population. It will be implemented through a workshop that will be developed in educational centers, in which not only will the causes and consequences behind prostitution be addressed, the reason that pushes women to exercise it, but also pornography will be questioned and affective-sexual education will be proposed as a way of learning. Workshops on egalitarian masculinities will also be given.
Improve the employability of women victims
To these activities must be added two projects aimed at improving the employability of women victims of gender violence. One of them, under the name of "Employment on wheels", is already underway and consists of training women as bus drivers as well as promoting the development of skills to achieve their incorporation into a traditionally masculinized work environment and meet the current demands of the market.
On the other hand, the Cabildo will develop the initiative "Acércate", with the aim of providing women victims of gender violence and their descendants, of legal age and dependent on them, with obtaining the class B driving license to avoid exclusion in the face of their situation of vulnerability and, with this, improve their access to the labor market as well as to existing resources.
Training for professionals
Similarly, the first island corporation continues to bet on training professionals to improve their knowledge in the care of victims of gender violence and, in this sense, has also programmed several training actions.
This is the case of the Itahisa training project for the integral approach to sexual violence, an initiative of the Feminist Association Mercedes Machado with which the Cabildo of Lanzarote collaborates and that since October 17 and until November 28 is being developed telematically.
In addition, the Cabildo of Lanzarote recently promoted "Diverse and Unique", a training action aimed at improving the care of women with disabilities victims of gender violence, which will take place on November 17 and 18 in the Insular Library and for which the registration period is still open.
The training will be given by Yaiza Afonso Higuera, pedagogue and expert in the field, and registrations can be made here.
X Race against Gender Violence
Finally, on Saturday, November 26, and in collaboration with the Arrecife City Council, the Cabildo of Lanzarote will celebrate the X Race against Gender Violence.
With a route of 2.5 kilometers, and with start and finish at the Fairgrounds of the capital, the sporting event will also have a marked playful, vindictive and awareness-raising character.
"Due to its educational and media potential, sport and physical activity constitute an engine of social change that has long contributed to promoting equality between men and women," says the Minister of Equality of the Cabildo, Myriam Barros.
Registrations for the tenth edition of the Race against Gender Violence are now open, and can be made here.