2023-10-03 18:34:09
Once again, the political debate focused on the fight against gender violence once again focuses the political news in Toledo, where PP and Vox govern. On this occasion, the center of criticism has been the vice mayor, Inés Cañizares, of the extreme right party, in response to the latest statements made in an interview with a local media.
Specifically, Cañizares It was yesterday the cover of La Tribuna de Toledo, in a photographic pose accompanied by several statements. In one of them, the Vox councilor defined the Toledo 8M Platform as a “crazy radical” collective that “speaks and insults people.” The spokespersons for the municipal groups of PSOE and IU- Podemos, Noelia de la Cruz and Txema Fernández, have attacked her for these statements.
For the representative of IU- Podemos, the statements of the vice mayor, who was asked in the interview if she will participate in the activities held each year on the occasion of November 25 (25N) – International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women-, represent a “fascistic attitude that stigmatizes the feminist movement in Toledo and the women who are being murdered.”
“Women are not crazy for screaming, they scream because they need us to hear their voices. Also the men. May all institutions hear your voice. “They need to stand up to fascist attitudes that call them crazy, stigmatizing women’s mental health,” Txema Fernández insisted to questions from the media after participating in the rally that the Local Women’s Council convenes every first Tuesday of the month. against gender violence.
Cañizares’ statements came after last week two PP councilors in the Government team reported having been rebuked. in a concentration condemning sexist violence convened by the 8M Platform. The feminist group explained that the criticism arose after asking both councilors not to stand in front of the banner, which they say “they ignored.”
The spokesperson for the Socialist Group has also spoken out with these words, considering that “this way of addressing the platform is not acceptable.” “You may like it more or less, but they have been working to defend women’s rights,” added Noelia de la Cruz, who considers that “the insult manifests her intention.”
Split Concentration
The vice mayor also affirms that she will attend the rallies called by the Local Women’s Council every first Tuesday of the month – in this legislature only on one occasion was this event attended by a Vox councilor – but that she will do so with her own banner. “We are waiting for you here, I don’t think that is going to happen,” the socialist spokesperson replies to this statement in reference to a divided demonstration in recent months after the entry of Vox into the local government.
In this sense, it is worth remembering that the PSOE, and other participants, are attending this monthly rally with a banner different from that of the Local Women’s Council, criticizing the Government of PP and Vox, a party contrary to the name included in the law as gender violence. “I would like there to be a single banner, but unfortunately in the Toledo City Council not all political parties defend the same thing and that is a harsh reality, which is why they force us to put ourselves in front of each other,” justifies de la Cruz.
PP: “I cannot make statements in relation to another party”
For her part, the Councilor for Social Affairs, Inclusion, Family and Seniors, Soledad Illescas, one of the two councilors who reported having been rebuked at the Platform 8M rally, has avoided commenting on Cañizares’ statements and Vox’s position. against sexist violence. “I cannot make statements or comments in relation to any party other than mine. “I know what my party thinks and it is the most resounding condemnation of gender violence,” she noted.
The councilor, who holds the Equality responsibilities in the Consistory, affirms that her “sole intention” in attending the rally was “to denounce gender violence.” “They are going to have me at the rallies against gender violence, it is the presence of the Government representative in matters of equality,” she emphasizes.
New banner division
The rally against gender violence held every first Tuesday of the month by the Toledo Local Women’s Council has further evidenced the existing division among its participants in its last event. This has been made visible with the placement of two banners facing each other – the usual one of the Council ‘against gender violence’ and the one displayed by the PSOE in recent months ‘against sexist violence’ – on the esplanade of Paseo de Sisebuto, where the concentration was held due to the installation of the Farcama stands in La Vega, the usual location of this event.
The group responsible for this month’s manifesto has been the Association of Men for Gender Equality, AHIGE Toledo, which has condemned the sexist murders that continue to occur in the country and which last week reached fifty so far. year, the same number of sexist crimes that were recorded during 2022.
The person in charge of reading the manifesto, Javier Covarrubias, member of the association and former national president of AHIGE, began by requesting the Toledo City Council to establish the Local Women’s Council in this new legislature, “necessary and essential to continue working for equality and against gender violence.” Likewise, he has demanded “the creation of the Equality Department” to implement policies in this sense because “what he names does not exist,” he exclaimed.
In its speech, AHIGE recalled the meaning of the term “gender violence”, which refers to a specific type of violence that is exerted on women through “acts that inflict physical, mental or sexual harm or suffering, threats to commit these acts, coercion and other forms of deprivation of liberty.”
“This terminology is recognized in the law on Comprehensive Protection Measures against Gender Violence. Is it necessary to remember it? It seems that if. Almost 20 years after the entry into force of this law, we find phrases or comments that are permeating society, such as ‘a woman has died’, ‘it is domestic violence’ or ‘violence has no gender’”, they state in The manifesto.
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