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"We are inspired by Spain to combat violence against women"

2021-07-27T16:47:28.206Z


The Equality Ministers of France and Spain, Élisabeth Moreno and Irene Montero, debate in an interview in Madrid on how to stop sexist violence


The alarms went off in May in both countries. After a tense calm during the harshest months of the pandemic, in Spain there were six murders in a week that put the government on guard. In France it was above all a brutal case that turned on the red lights. In the French town of Merignac, near Bordeaux, a man shot his ex-wife in the legs in the middle of the street, doused her with flammable liquid as she fell to the ground and burned her alive. He was an old acquaintance of the justice system, who still had to periodically go to jail for a conviction for sexist violence, and whom his wife had already denounced, although it was later discovered that it was a police officer also convicted of sexist violence who took the data . The police and judicial files are not connected in France."It cannot be that the police know a case and the justice does not," explains in Madrid the minister in charge of Gender Equality in France, Élisabeth Moreno (Cape Verde, 50 years old). She is visiting the capital to learn: "France is very inspired by Spain to combat violence against women," says Moreno. "It is the country that has done the most in this matter in Europe." It is received by the Spanish Minister of Equality, Irene Montero (Madrid, 33 years old). In one day they will visit the VioGén police system and go to the 016 telephone service for assistance to victims, in addition to meeting with LGTBI groups. In the morning, before"France is very inspired by Spain to combat violence against women," says Moreno. "It is the country that has done the most in this matter in Europe." It is received by the Spanish Minister of Equality, Irene Montero (Madrid, 33 years old). In one day they will visit the VioGén police system and go to the 016 telephone service for assistance to victims, in addition to meeting with LGTBI groups. In the morning, before"France is very inspired by Spain to combat violence against women," says Moreno. "It is the country that has done the most in this matter in Europe." It is received by the Spanish Minister of Equality, Irene Montero (Madrid, 33 years old). In one day they will visit the VioGén police system and go to the 016 telephone service for assistance to victims, in addition to meeting with LGTBI groups. In the morning, before

tour,

both attend a joint interview with

Le Monde

and EL PAÍS.

The Government promotes a one-stop shop for victims of sexist violence

Spain began institutional work against sexist violence more than 15 years ago, with a comprehensive 2004 law that was reinforced in 2017 with a State pact.

This same Tuesday, the Council of Ministers approved a package of urgent measures motivated by the rebound in murders in May.

“We are facing an upturn in violence, we have reviewed measures that may be in the pact and not implemented and we have gone further in other cases.

There are measures that we have known for many years that they would be effective and that have not yet been applied ”, admits Montero.

There are measures that we have known for many years that they would be effective and that have not yet been applied.

Irene Montero, Minister of Equality of Spain

Many of the plans that have already been seen in Spain and are being corrected on this side of the Pyrenees are beginning to be approved on the other. For example, the debate here is how to improve the police detection system - the VioGén questionnaires, which are made to women and in which they now want to incorporate information from social services and family members. France wants to copy the model for police and judges to share files, something that could have been decisive in the Merignac case. Moreno believes that the preparation of these professionals is crucial: “The first contact is the most important. Imagine that you go to a police station and they ask you if you are sure you want to report, or they tell you that you can destabilize your family member or that it is just a slap ... these things are still heard.You have to train the police to take the complaint. And we have expedited the protection orders with the judges. If you have to use all your energy to explain why you have to get away from your attacker, that does not work ”.

Imagine that at the police station they ask you if you are sure you want to report, or they tell you that it is just a slap ... these things are still heard

Élisabeth Moreno, Minister in charge of Gender Equality in France

The murder rate in France is double that of Spain. In 2019, to review a year without the effect of the pandemic, 146 women were murdered in France (0.21 per 100,000 inhabitants) compared to 55 in Spain (0.11). "We are going to see what Spain has done well and what it has learned from what works and what does not, and that will allow us to accelerate," explains in good Spanish that he will use during most of the meeting Moreno, jurist and director of several technology companies before landing in the ministry of Emmanuel Macron. He would like to copy the Spanish State Pact against Gender Violence "so that no government that comes afterwards can forget the rights of women thinking that it is not a priority." Minister Irene Montero stresses that she wants to shield this pact, whose validity expires this year,with an eye on the far-right Vox party, which denies that violence has gender.

The Minister of Equality of Spain, Irene Montero, serves water to that of France, Élisabeth Moreno, moment before the interview.

Carlos Rosillo

In France, Moreno explains, the National Front (now the National Group, the French extreme right) "does not pose a threat because it has not ruled on equality or LGTBI rights."

In Spain, the equivalent Vox "has placed these rights in the focus of its attacks and precisely for that reason, the obligation of the Ministry of Equality is to be as ambitious as one can be in the consolidation of a new generation of feminist rights" , as Montero values, "which will allow us, after more than a decade without significant legislative progress, to stop those who want to lock women up in their homes and will allow us to build powerful European alliances".

The French extreme right does not pose a threat because it has not ruled on equality or LGTBI rights

Élisabeth Moreno, Minister in charge of Gender Equality in France

France has just eliminated medical secrecy so that doctors can notify if a woman arrives with an injury.

In the plan that the Spanish Council of Ministers sees this Tuesday, it is expected to generalize that health workers, especially primary care and pediatricians, alert with a "validated and standardized" system, the so-called health screening that the Valencian Community has applied for more than five years and that was already included in the State Pact.

We are going to consolidate a new generation of feminist rights to stop those who want to lock women up in their homes

Irene Montero, Minister of Equality in Spain

One of the measures that most interest the French minister are the telematic bracelets, the devices that are put on the aggressors and that jump if they approach their victim at a distance less than that dictated by a judge. In France, which has just begun to use them, 250 have been implanted. In Spain there are 2,300 men with a bracelet (of the 3,000 existing) and the objective is to expand them to 8,000. Montero admits that punitive measures are "fundamental", but "accompanied by comprehensive protection and reparation mechanisms" for women, an aspect they also share. "It is essential that the focus is on men and it does not have to be women who have to be concerned about where they are going," says the Spanish minister.

We want men to be able to see themselves reflected in the fact that a feminist society is a better society for them too

Irene Montero, Minister of Equality of Spain

The Spanish Government has been pointing out for months that we must put more focus on the aggressor.

And there is a public policy that France has put in place: 18 centers to specifically deal with aggressors.

"We realized that many do not work and are under the effect of addictions, they are not excuses to act, but if we attend them psychologically and socially we can avoid more problems," explains Moreno.

In Spain, says Montero, they seek to reinforce the work of the administrations to accompany the aggressors "in their process of social reintegration."

But not only: "We decide what tools to offer so that men can see themselves reflected in the fact that a feminist society is a better society for them as well."

The Equality Ministers Élisabeth Moreno and Irene Montero, during the interview.

Carlos Rosillo

France foresees that men may also be the ones who leave their homes when a case of sexist violence is uncovered, another novel aspect for Spain. "Here it depends on the judicial decisions", recalls Montero, "which are one of the main challenges." “CEDAW (the UN Commission for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women) has said for Spain and many other countries that patriarchal justice is one of the great problems, which many times does not accompany the legislative changes that allow guarantee and protect women's rights ”, explains the Spanish minister.

They also agree that women need comprehensive care to get out of the spiral of violence and that this is a structural issue in which the whole of society must be involved. “If a teacher sees a mother who brings her son to school several times with his face beaten, she has to do something, or the neighbors who, when she is already dead, always say that they had heard, that they knew. Everyone can do something ”, summarizes Moreno.

Spain plans to promote the so-called violet points, distinctive for all types of entities, businesses or public institutions that allow women to know that they are in a safe place where they can go for help.

“It is not so much that it can be reported in a bakery, as that more and more establishments such as pharmacies, shopping centers or private places can be identified as safe places and that a woman can know in an emergency situation that in that space you will be informed of your rights, ”explains Montero.

With Me Too women have discovered that they were not alone, but we have also seen men who were accused and who were ultimately not guilty "

Èlisabeth Moreno, Minister in charge of Gender Equality in France

Spain "would not tolerate" a minister accused of rape

At various points in the interview, the French Minister for Equality refers to how President Emmanuel Macron has decided that equality between men and women is "the priority of his mandate." Macron has received harsh criticism, not only from feminists, because his interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, has been accused of rape. In the different public appearances in which this matter has been addressed, the cabinet has appealed to the presumption of innocence. It is also wielded by Minister Élisabeth Moreno when asked about it. "He was charged, but not charged," he says. “It is important that the law is applied for women but also for men. If he was not charged, we have to respect him too ”, continues the French minister. “I really liked that with Me Too the word has been released,women have discovered that they were not alone, but we have also seen men who were accused and who were ultimately not guilty ”. The investigation of the Interior Minister's case is not closed.

"Our society, the Spanish one, would not tolerate it," says Minister Irene Montero when asked if something like this would be possible in Spain. "It is a question that cannot be answered without understanding the feminist movement in Spain," she points out. "There is a very broad social consensus that makes tolerance in Spain in the face of cases of sexual assault, any type of sexual violence and all types of gender violence, is less and less."

Source: elparis

All life articles on 2021-07-27

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