Barcelona launches new campaign against sexist violence

The Barcelona city council has reaffirmed its commitment to continue fighting sexist violence "in all areas and forms" and highlighted the need to "urgently break the glass ceiling."

Mayor Jaume Collboni read out a manifesto th mark International Women's Day on Friday, and denounced the inequalities and discrimination that women suffer "just for being women" and admitted that there is still "a long and complex road to travel."

Various members of the council unfurled a banner from the balcony of the city hall building reading 'Let's break the glass ceiling so that the girls of today are the leaders of tomorrow'.

During the reading of the manifesto, Collboni insisted that "a lot of progress has been made" thanks to the feminist movement. "The latest data tell us that it is not enough, that we are facing a problem that concerns the whole of society," the mayor said.

Collboni recalled that only one third of managerial positions in Catalonia (33.8%) are held by women and that, on the other hand, there are "completely feminized and precarious" sectors such as care and cleaning.

He also mentioned the gender wage gap and "the reduced participation of women in key productive sectors" such as technology.

Second deputy mayor of the city, Maria Eugènia Gay, focused on the feminization of poverty in her speech, which "requires an urgent and structural response."

She wanted to highlight the importance of access to rights for all women, specifically using homeless women and immigrants in irregular situation as examples. "We must back Barcelona being free of loopholes and full of women's rights," she said.