Call for 'free and safe spaces' on International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women was marked by the Catalan government, Barcelona City Council, and Barcelona Regional Council at a joint event in Barcelona on Monday.

The three institutions gathered at Plaça Sant Jaume with a call to "break the silence," and committed to working together to eradicate gender-based violence.

This year, the focus has also been on the need to have "free and safe spaces."

The Minister of Equality and Feminism, Eva Menor, urged all citizens to take an "active" role in the addressing this problem.

"We need lots of people to be committed, to be active, who want to denounce – not only in the courts but in any domestic setting – the violence that women suffer daily, simply for being women," she told reporters at the event.

During the event, a minute's silence was held in remembrance of the victims – 16 women and 3 children since January – and a joint manifesto was read.

The event was attended by the Catalan President, Salvador Illa; the Mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni; the Parliament Speaker, Josep Rull; and the President of the Barcelona Regional Council, Lluïsa Moret; as well as various government ministers, among others.

Threats of regression in women's rights

This year’s institutional declaration for International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women warns of the "threats of regression in women’s rights in the context of a patriarchal reaction to the advances of the feminist movement."

It says that violence goes beyond physical violence, and demands recognition of psychological, economic, obstetric, sexual, digital, and vicarious violence.

Vast majority of women suffer gender-based violence

Eight out of ten Catalan women have suffered some form of gender-based violence and 65.2% some form of sexual violence, the joint manifesto said.

One in five reported having suffered a sexual assault in a public space, a focus for this year's manifesto: "We want free and safe spaces, and we want everyone's involvement," it reads.

It also calls on society to "break the silence" and "ensure all alerts are active to prevent, detect and respond to violence in public spaces."

Ripoll council event branded "racist" by feminists

Elsewhere, an event marking International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in Ripoll, northern Catalonia, was criticised by feminist groups in the town.

They accused the far-right Catalan Alliance-run council of holding a "racist and Islamophobic event this Monday to supposedly free women from the yoke of a religion."

The council's roundtable – 'Against the imposition of the Islamic veil' – "is opportunistically using the violence suffered by many women and girls around the world to make anti-immigration demagoguery."

They add: "Let’s be clear, the far right will never bring any progress in the rights of any woman anywhere."

Police and health figures

Catalan police, the Mossos d'Esquadra, received 1,910 reports of sexual assault during the first six months of the year, according to data from Ministry of Home Affairs and Public Safety.

Meanwhile, the Catalan Health System detected 10,805 cases of gender-based violence against women in 2023, which is 5.22% more than the previous year (10,240).