Madrid (EFE).- Equality has been placed at the forefront of national politics and the electoral cycle has fueled the controversy about its present and future. What will happen to the feminist proposals after the July 23 elections? What will the parties do? These are two of the questions that the EFE Agency wants to help answer through the last of the four debates that it has organized on the occasion of the 23J campaign.
At the CaixaForum in Madrid, thanks to the “la Caixa” Foundation, a sectoral debate will take place this Monday, starting at 10:00 a.m., which, within the “EFE Forum 23J” cycle and in line with those on the environment, foreign policy and economy already held, will address one of the central issues of the electoral dispute.
The elections of May 28 altered the majorities of numerous city councils and several regional parliaments. The fit of equality policies in the new projects received paramount attention and the controversy intensified.
Almost two months later, at the gates of general elections, the discussion continues, as shown by the expectation created around the new governments of the Valencian Community and Extremadura.
Andrea Fernández, the person in charge of the area at the PSOE, will talk about this present of equality and feminism, but above all about its future; Patricia Rodríguez, representative of the PP in the Senate’s commissions for equality and the fight against sexist violence; María Ruiz, deputy for Vox; and Elizabeth Duval, Sumar’s spokesperson for Feminism, Equality and LGTBI Rights.
Four blocks will structure the debate: employment, sexist violence, education and LGTBI people.
Work-life balance and equal pay
Defending equality is a government action. Developing its policies depends on numerous ministries. Will there be an Equality portfolio in the next Government? It is an issue that the political class has discussed in the pre-campaign of 23J and that the speakers will most likely put on the table.
Various areas portray the commitment to equality and feminism, a more or less intense commitment depending on the ambition of such policies.
Equality depends on employment policies. In Spain, the gender wage gap is 18% and more than 70% of the leaves of absence requested in Spain are for women to care for sons, daughters and sick or dependent people. The political challenges have to do with these figures; They have to do with conciliation, co-responsibility and salary capacity. What do PSOE, PP, Vox and Sumar propose?
Institutional response to gender violence
Since the beginning of the year, 28 women have been murdered by their partners or ex-partners. If we go back to 2003, when the statistics began, there are 1,212 sexist murders.
The records of the Government, the National Police and the General Council of the Judiciary point to a greater awareness because there are more and more complaints. In 2022, every day, 499 cases of abuse were reported, 10% more than the previous year.
But, relatively recently, the institutional response has been stressed by the clash of different political views on gender violence.
Education and adolescence
Proof of the transversality of equality is the decisive role that education plays. Experts, the educational community, fathers and mothers agree on the importance of an affective-sexual education based on equality.
A threat looms, however, over this consensus. Access to porn, increasingly at an earlier age, has been shown to be harmful because it leads to sexual assault and sexist violence itself.
LGBTI equality
Is LGTBIphobia a problem in Spain? Data from the Ministry of the Interior place it as the second reason for hate crimes in the country, after racism and xenophobia.
The vision that the left and right blocks represent on the protection of these people, a recent controversy due to the placement or removal of rainbow flags in public institutions and facilities, has raised expectations about the policies that the parties will develop in this regard.
Thanks to the call from the EFE Agency, PSOE, PP, Vox and Sumar will talk about it.