Charlie Smith
WOMEN across Spain have organised 500 protests across the country on International Women’s Day.
Students in Madrid and Barcelona are striking at midday to highlight the crucial role of women in society.
Feminist group, Comisión 8M, said the aim of the marches was ‘subverting the world order and the pervading hetero-patriarchal, racist and neoliberal rhetoric’.
Meanwhile, in the Andalucian parliament the 12 deputies of the far-right Vox party are the only politicians to reject the calls of the left-wing PSOE for political groups to join the strikes.
Women in Spain
• Female unemployment is 3.5% higher than men’s
• Women do 74% of part-time jobs
• Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez put women in 65% of his cabinet roles
• Women make up 55.2% of public sector jobs in Spain, but get paid €2,500 less on average than men
• 47 women in Spain were killed by gender violence last year
It comes as President of the region, Juan Manuel Moreno, is set to create a working group to tackle gender violence.
But there was disagreement in the house, as the PSOE said the conservative PP party’s ‘commitment to equality is zero’.
The PP hit back by saying that the PSOE party’s initiatives were ‘disguised as feminism’.
READ MORE:
- WATCH: Feminists camp outside Andalucian parliament to protest FAR-RIGHT support of new government
- Spanish Catholic group under fire AGAIN after comparing feminists to Hitler on side of campaign bus
- Female gypsy Vox candidate wants to undo Spain’s gender violence laws as fight for women’s rights turns ugly in run-up to the 8M strike today
At a national level, Pedro Sanchez has beaten the record for the number of women in his PSOE cabinet, after he appointed female politicians to 65% of Government roles when he took office.
The PP however came under fire on Thursday after announcing its politicians would not attend the marches in Madrid.
In a statement the PP said: “Far-left parties want to monopolize this demonstration, looking to create division and conflict between men and women, and even between women of different ideologies.”
It is not yet clear how many people have joined the protests on March 8 this year, but last year the numbers reached 5.3 million, according to unions.
