On the occasion of 8M, Demócrata converses with all the spokeswomen of the Equality Commission in Congress to learn about the legislative agenda of the parliamentary groups: reproductive rights, work-life balance for athletes, social vulnerability or digital environments. As well as, the challenges they identify in this area: end of trafficking, abolition of prostitution, parity in management boards or educating new generations.
Among the opposition parties a request: that the Government fulfill its commitments and carry out the pertinent regulatory developments of the agreements reached.
THEY SPEAK:
- Patricia Rodríguez, Popular Party
- Andrea Fernández, PSOE
- María Romero, Vox
- Esther Gil, Sumar
- Pilar Vallugera, ERC
- Pilar Calvo, Junts
- Bel Pozueta, EH Bildu
- Maribel Vaquero, PNV
- Ione Belarra, Podemos
Reproductive rights
Last October, the Council of Ministers approved in first reading the pre-bill for the reform of article 43 of the Constitution to guarantee the right to abortion. A few weeks ago, the Council of State endorsed the text, which will now have to pass again through the Council of Ministers before being sent to the Cortes. For Sumar and ERC, this is a matter of utmost importance.
In this vein, its spokesperson, Esther Gil, adds her group's will to reinforce the guarantees so that women can exercise this right freely, "protecting them from the harassment they still suffer in the vicinity of abortion clinics". An issue, which also stands out on the agenda of EH Bildu.
Bel Pozueta, spokesperson for EH Bildu, assures in Demócrata that this very week they have registered a PNL to guarantee these rights, as well as, those of the professionals of the health centers where the interventions are carried out. For her part, Pilar Vallugera spokesperson for ERC in the Equality Commission, denounces that the coercions are being normalized: "That it is sold as coercion to freedom of expression, when they are in reality coercion to the right that women have to decide over their own body".
Pozueta (EH Bildu) insists that until the end of the legislature, they are going to try to implement the Organic Law 1/2023, of February 28, on sexual and reproductive health and voluntary termination of pregnancy: "Laws hold many written things, but if they are not implemented, they are useless."
Abolition of prostitution and trafficking
In the short term, the Socialist Group has a clear priority: the abolition of prostitution and trafficking for sexual exploitation. In conversation with this outlet, Andrea Fernández recalls that they are waiting for the Government to send to Congress both the anti-trafficking bill and the prostitution abolition bill. The socialist spokesperson does not hide the desire for this to happen as soon as possible to be able to start working on the amendments "and reach agreements with the groups to ensure that the texts move forward".
"It is the most important challenge I identify, due to its urgency, due to the lack of legislation we have, and above all due to the enormous violence it entails", stresses the spokesperson for the PSOE.
To this list of bills announced by the Executive, and which the groups await to be sent to the Courts, the ERC spokesperson adds the one for the fight against vicarious violence.
Among the pending issues, Vallugera (ERC) also alludes to the system for the protection of victims of gender violence, "which doesn't quite work", and to the implementation of specific gender training for justice administration personnel.
Inequality in sport
In Junts, this 8M they put sportswomen at the center and its spokesperson in the Equality Commission, Pilar Calvo, recalls that their formation introduced both in the Sports Law and in the Parity Law amendments to guarantee equal treatment in sport, also in the professional.
"But we are far from being able to say that these laws are truly benefiting female athletes," laments the Catalan deputy who highlights the absence of equity in economic, labor, physical preparation, medical assistance, remuneration and even prizes. "Evidently, the law cannot enter private clubs but it can enter federation competitions," insists Calvo.
Regarding leadership in the sports field, from Junts they point out that the presence of women in leadership positions remains residual, below 15%, "and the Superior Sports Council looks the other way," assures Calvo.
The diagnosis of the independence movement is clear: "As long as women do not hold positions of power, they will continue to be at the mercy of what men decide. Equality is in the law, but not on the playing fields."
Conciliation
Reconciliation and motherhood are other issues, no less important, for which Junts demands more efforts. Calvo specifies that her party promoted the modification of the RDL 1006/1985 to guarantee the real and effective reconciliation of professional sportswomen who become pregnant or decide to adopt: "Being a mother meant the end of the sports career of many women because if motherhood arrived in the last year of their contract, they were left on the street".
A topic, also very present on the PP's agenda. The Popular Group has registered in the Lower House a bill on conciliation and co-responsibility, "because we know that many women, when they decide to become mothers, are still forced to choose or even to give up their professional development", states its spokesperson in the Equality Commission, Patricia Rodríguez.
The eternal scourge
In statements to Demócrata, PNV spokesperson Maribel Vaquero shows her concern about the discourses that question the advances achieved in terms of equality or that reject the existence of sexist violence, especially among the younger generations: "Our function is to help them be critical, to question those who question equality and to make their alarms go off in the face of non-egalitarian ways of relating."
A thesis shared by Vallugera (ERC) which calls for a review of social attitudes: "Although we make many speeches, the dominant discourse in advertisements, the dominant discourse in publicity, the dominant discourse in narrative, is again, male superiority and the use of women as objects, and that has me very worried".
Digital environment
PSOE and PNV also include among their priorities "paying special attention to the pollution of the digital environment". For Fernández (PSOE), this digital agenda is very important, due to the level of violence women suffer in these environments. "We need to create a safe digital environment free from discourses and content that denigrate women," points out Vaquero (PNV), who again, urges the protection of new generations: "It is fundamental that platforms, networks… are safe for boys, girls and young people."
In this area, Podemos, through its deputy Ione Belarra (Podemos), spokesperson for the Mixed Group in the Equality Commission, appeals for the promotion of new tools against digital gender violence, including "sexual deepfakes and the use of AI to harass women; the strengthening of protection against political violence".
The transformation of violence in the digital environment, "where coordinated harassment and the growth of cyberviolence poses a direct threat to women's political participation and freedom of expression", is precisely one of the challenges identified by the purple formation.
Social vulnerability
At another point in the conversation, the abertzale deputy, focuses on the convention of the ILO that Spain ratified in 2024 on decent work for domestic workers, "although most are women, in a situation of precariousness and semi-slavery".
Pozueta recalls that its regulatory development was planned from 2026, but that "as of today, there is no longer any progress." "We are going to be very attentive, because it seems to us that it is social justice," she remarks. In this sense, the EH Bildu deputy highlights the development of tools to evaluate occupational risks, which "should have been done and is pending regulation."
Another relevant element for Pozueta is the repeal on two occasions of the Royal Decree-Law of the social shield, "due to the difficulty that the right has posed". The EH Bildu deputy regrets that this perpetuates the existence of very vulnerable and very feminized social strata, "who are being left behind".
A question of gaps
On the other hand, from the PNV they insist on the need to ensure that there is co-responsibility in care matters, guarantee labor rights and eliminate the labor gap.
Vallugera (ERC), also asks not to overlook single-parent families, "and in which mothers usually bear the weight of responsibility, the weight of their families' economy alone".
For her part, María Romero, spokesperson for Vox in the Equality Commission, claims the freedom of all women to choose, "without coercion or limitations, their way of life, their ability to form a family, if they so wish and without having to face the maternal gap that penalizes them for being mothers".
For Belarra (Podemos), "if feminism returns to the center of the political agenda, we will be able to achieve transformations: distribution of wealth with fair prices and decent wages, protection of public services instead of spending money on weapons, guarantee the right to sexual freedom and end the impunity of aggressors, distribute time and care and reduce the working day".
Obstetric violence
Along with the protection of abortion in the Constitution, Gil (Sumar) understands that legislation is needed regarding obstetric health "to recognize women's rights during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum, combat this type of violence and guarantee respectful healthcare". In this regard, Belarra (Podemos) calls for a specific law that addresses obstetric violence "from a human rights perspective".
In the agenda of the Plurinational Sumar Group is also present the prohibition and the persecution "of effectively conversion therapies, a form of violence that cannot have a place in an advanced democracy".
Migration
For the Vox spokesperson, it is also necessary to "decisively put an end to all policies promoting mass immigration", which she considers "impose a vision of women as objectified and inferior to men". In this regard, Rodríguez (PP) insists that her party defends "the freedom of women against impositions, such as the prohibition of the burka or niqab, and we will work to reverse legislation from this Government that has harmed women's rights".
In matters of migration, but with another vision, Belarra (Podemos) states in Demócrata: "An anti-racist law and the reform of immigration regulations are essential to guarantee full rights to migrant women; regularization is not only a social measure, but a feminist policy that combats exploitation and structural vulnerability".
Crossed reproaches
As Romero (Vox) acknowledges, his party openly opposes the "gender agenda" which, he states, has been promoted by PP and PSOE which "pits men and women against each other" and which "is having very serious consequences, such as the injury to the presumption of innocence, the existence of exceptional courts, or a man who self-perceives as a woman being able to compete in women's sports categories, in addition to squandering huge amounts of the money of the Spaniards on chiringuitos".
Junts also show themselves critical of the Government, although for other issues. "More than thinking about new legislative texts that lead us to effective equality, it would be time for the Spanish government to comply with those that have been approved. They fill their mouths with feminism, but then they are incapable of applying the laws that they themselves publish in the BOE and that have represented a milestone in terms of equality and non-discrimination of women," states their spokesperson in the relevant committee.
Thesis shared by Vallugera (ERC): "There are announcements, but but in reality there is very little very little legislative work, at least from Congress."