Speech by President of the Government at ceremony to present awards on occasion of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

Madrid

Madam Minister, ministers, spokespersons and representatives of the different parliamentary groups, presenter, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends.

Thank you all very much for coming here.

As you are aware, today we commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and, as on previous occasions, at this event we would like to take the opportunity to particularly convey our tribute to the victims while, at the same time, publicly acknowledging those who work to achieve a society that is free of gender-based violence.

Hence, I would like my first words to be in affectionate and emotive memory of those women who have lost their lives at the hands of their partners or former partners in this year to date. Let us hold these women dear in our memories; together with those children who have been left orphaned and their families.

Today, I also want to remember those women who continue to suffer some form of abuse in silence, and particularly the most vulnerable groups:

• I refer to adolescents, who are highly exposed to new forms of violence and control through social networks. At this stage in one's life, when patterns of behaviour are forged, during adolescence, it is fundamental for us all to establish a solid barrier of values that cannot be scaled by those cowards who are ever present in our society;
• Also, women with some form of disability, and hence, with the greatest problems in accessing public resources, deserve to be attended to with our fullest attention;
• Older women, many of whom, due to their economic dependence or a long history of abuse, find it much harder to break out of this circle of violence;
• And children, who are always the silent victims of the abuse perpetrated on their mothers but who, for the first time, have been acknowledged as victims themselves, with the necessary budget to be able to provide them with protection.

The government's priority, which in reality is the priority of us all, is to support them so that they can escape from this situation, which involves not only helping them to report these acts but also in accompanying them in the process that begins from that very moment, offering them, of course, an opportunity to live with their children in peace and far removed from the threat of their aggressor.

We, in Spain, have been pioneers in working to stamp out all forms of violence against women and, in general, it is thought that we have one of the systems that provide the best judicial and social responses to gender-based violence. And, although there are many aspects that could and, indeed, must be improved in Spain, we have a complete legal system, with high standards of transparency in the figures we publish and a powerful system of resources to provide assistance and protection, and which has steadily improved as each year passes.

I would like to remind you that in the last term of office, we ratified the Istanbul Convention of the Council of Europe and we enacted more than 12 Acts of Parliament. Our goal was to facilitate, among other things, greater guarantees for women when reporting their abusers. To that end, we have approved access to free legal aid for women, regardless of their economic resources, including preliminary legal advice within this package to ensure that complaints are not filed away for formal defects.

Progress has been made, but there is still a lot to do while this cowardly scourge persists in our country.

Dear friends,

It is clear that further progress has been made since the approval of the Comprehensive Act in this field back in 2004. This progress has been made, in part, by the political action of the public authorities but, above all, by the involvement of civil society in this matter.

That is why today, we reward, as in previous years, some of those initiatives that have helped improve certain very important aspects, such as by raising social awareness. Thanks to this collective effort, we can now say that 98% of Spanish people reject these forms of violent conduct.

But it is not only the excellent campaigns carried out by the Government Delegation for Gender-Based Violence that have been helpful, but also other initiatives that have come from civil society. I would like to mention today the activities that have been undertaken by the company CLETE, which has joined up to the network of companies signing up for a society free of gender-based violence; the platform ROTAS, set up by Luis Llorente, which seeks to raise awareness at a cultural level; and Marta Pastor, a renowned journalist, who heads up the programme "Ellas pueden" [They can], on Spanish National Radio.

The effectiveness in the fight against other forms of violence against women has undoubtedly improved as a result of the approval of new protocols, such as the Plan to Combat the Trafficking of Women and Girls for Sexual Exploitation or the criminalisation of new offences, including cyberbullying.

But effectiveness has also been improved in this fight, and it is important to mention that, and recognise the outstanding work of such people as Chief Inspector José Nieto, with his extensive experience in combating the trafficking of women at a national level, or Jorge Flores, the founder of Pantallas Amigas, an initiative that fosters the safe and healthy use of new technologies, thus avoiding the emergence of cases of gender-based violence.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Today we cannot forget something as important as the protection of children who, as I mentioned earlier, have, until now, been the invisible victims of violence perpetrated on their mothers, as well as of other particularly vulnerable victims. Let us think, for example, about adolescents or women with disabilities. The work of Salomé Adroher, the former Director-General for Children and Families of the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, has been very important in this task. The coordination of the overhaul of the system to protect young children and adolescents is the fruit of her efforts. And together with her work, we must also praise the work of other organisations such as the ANAR Foundation, Save the Children and the CERMI Women Foundation.

Mentioning all these people who carry out such important and necessary work leads me to the certainty that political and social stakeholders as a whole must continue working together on this shared task. While it is always good to work together, it is much more so when we are tackling a phenomenon that is so complex and difficult to wipe out, as indeed is this one that brings us here today,

Ladies and gentlemen,

I took on the commitment at the Investiture Session to try to push through a great State Pact to combat gender-based violence. This important goal has started to take shape with the unanimous agreement reached by all the parliamentary groups just ten days ago. We have decided to set up a sub-committee in the Lower House, through which we will work to build the necessary consensus regarding gender-based violence similar to that which we have done on other occasions in the Upper and Lower Houses.

Many steps have been taken in recent times, as I mentioned earlier, but as I also said, and I repeat now, there is still a lot to be done in terms of allocating resources to support victims in relation to their rights, in training all the parties involved and in raising greater awareness to combat this intolerable criminal offence.

I believe, in all honesty, that the term of office now starting represents a great opportunity to push through a new and great social pact in our democracy.

Dear friends,

I will end now. The most important message I believe we can convey today to those women that are still living this nightmare of abuse and other forms of violence perpetrated against them, is the following: that there is a way out of your problem and you are backed by everyone in this task. The whole of Spanish society is on your side and supports you. You have all the solidarity and effective and decisive support of institutions, as well as associations and professionals who work every day to help you take this first, difficult and yet vitally important step, which is to report the situation you are suffering.

You have many resources on your side. I am referring to the 016 helpline, which acts as the best and easiest gateway to the system and back to a normal life. You will be attended there 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by specially qualified women without any trace of the call being left on your phone bill. I have had the opportunity to visit this key resource and, believe me, I was very impressed by the professional, yet sensitive nature of these people, all of them women.

I know that it is very difficult, but I would urge you to ask for help. Many women, fortunately, have done this. The records shows this, and we heard this just a few minutes ago, eight out of every ten women manage to achieve this. This figure, which offers a window of hope, is the best message we can all give you on a day such as this one.

Thank you very much.