Pedro Sánchez calls on political forces to "renew as soon as possible" the State Pact against Sex-based Violence

Pavon Theatre, Madrid

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, during his speech at the opening of the event for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (Pool Moncloa/Fernando Calvo)

The head of the Executive, Pedro Sánchez, has asked the main political forces to "put differences aside" and renew the State Pact against sex-based violence approved in 2017 "as soon as possible." "It is essential to maintain the spirit of consensus and it is in this spirit that we are working with all the groups - except the far-right - in the parliamentary subcommittee to renew the State Pact and update it to include new forms of violence, such as digital, economic and vicarious violence."

This was stated during the institutional act organised by the Ministry of Equality on International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, in the Pavón Theatre in Madrid, in which the president began his speech by condemning the latest male violence murder that took place this weekend in Estepa, Seville, which brings the number of women who have been killed in Spain as a result of sex-based violence in 2024 to 41. A figure that "reminds us that we must continue to fight with all our might against this infamy," he said.

Pedro Sánchez expressed his conviction that "Spain will continue to be a point of reference throughout the world in this battle front" as it has been until now, but in order to continue making progress it is also necessary to "put more resources on the table for prevention and protection, improving the speed and scope of useful means such as the VioGen System, which already reaches more than 100,000 women, 1,200 adolescents and 1,700 children." Also more resources to prosecute and punish abusers, with the creation of the Courts for Violence against Women and the reform of the Central Register of Sex Offenders; or improving access to justice with the Offices for Assistance to Victims of Crime.

"We need more and better coordination between institutions, law enforcement agencies and legal operators, and we need to fight the battle in the field of values and awareness-raising. But, above all, we need to continue to face this dramatic reality and fight against resignation to the inevitable," he said.

For Pedro Sánchez, the fight against sex-based violence "is an absolute priority for Spanish society as a whole and, therefore, for the Government of Spain" and "we are going to act accordingly, because society is asking us not to look away," he said. "Neither loneliness nor silence will ever again be an alibi for inaction, because every woman who dies at the hands of her partner or ex-partner, every woman who suffers sex-based violence in its many forms, is a defeat for democracy."

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, during his speech at the opening of the event for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women | Pool Moncloa/Fernando Calvo

20th anniversary of the Comprehensive Law on Sex-based Violence

During his speech, Pedro Sánchez stressed that the 25 November is special because we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Comprehensive Law on Sex-based Violence, a "pioneering law that made Spain a world reference" and which "represented not only the culmination of a long road of demands by the feminist movement in Spain, but also the starting point of what is today one of the most advanced legislations in the world."

Furthermore, he pointed out that this law "represented a paradigm shift", because "it placed violence that until then had been confined to the private sphere at the centre of the debate and recognised its structural nature and common to all strata of our society."

The president of the Government of Spain also recalled that the law was passed "unanimously" and that the same spirit of consensus also encouraged the approval, in 2017, of the State Pact against Sex-based Violence, "a transcendental step forwards in prevention, protection and assistance to victims."

Consensus on sex-based violence is being challenged

Against this, the head of the Executive has denounced that "for the first time in many years, the general consensus on sex-based violence and the need to promote and strengthen equality policies is being questioned." He explained that, on an international level, "conquests that we thought were established are being questioned without scruple and without shame by an extreme right that not only advances electorally, but also increasingly conditions political discourse in Europe, in the world and in Spain" and "consolidated rights are being reversed, as in the United States, where the Supreme Court revoked the right to abortion at a federal level," just as "there are also examples in some town councils in our country."

An involution that "feeds on hoaxes and disinformation" and against which "we must raise our voices." "We must fight this discourse with determination, with more conviction than ever. Not only because it pollutes the public debate, but also because it radically denies something that should be undeniable: that the cause of women's equality, and especially the fight against violence against women, is above all a matter of human rights.

The President of the Government of Spain and the Ministers for Transport, Education, Housing, Economy, Digital Transformation and Equality, together with other participants in the institutional event | Pool Moncloa/Fernando Calvo

Recognition for the fight against sex-based violence

During the event, held at the Pavón Theatre in Madrid, individuals, projects and institutions were recognised for their work in different areas in the fight against male violence. Pedro Sánchez thanked all of them for being "an example of involvement, leadership and civic commitment in one of the noblest causes facing humanity" and thanked them for "informing, raising awareness, defending, educating and accompanying in this battle to eradicate, once and for all, this evil from our society."

Together with the president of the Government of Spain at the event were the Minister for Equality, Ana Redondo; the Minister for Education, Vocational Training and Government Spokesperson, Pilar Alegría; the Minister for Housing and Urban Agenda, Isabel Rodríguez; the Minister for Economy, Trade and Enterprise, Carlos Cuerpo, and the Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Function, Óscar López.

Non official translation