A dozen deputies from the European Parliament's women's rights committee will disembark in Madrid on Monday to learn first-hand about gender equality policies, measures against sexual violence and trafficking, and standards on care adopted in recent years. in Spain and that are, in many cases, at the European vanguard.
The visit was approved in mid-2022, long before the approval of the only yes is yes law designed by the Ministry of Equality directed by Irene Montero, which establishes a single crime, that of sexual assault, regardless of whether it involved violence. or bullying. It should have been the flagship law of the current legislature, but the subsequent downward revision of hundreds of convictions of sex offenders in application of the new regulations generated strong social unrest and strained the government coalition to the extreme, which has agreed to reform it.
The mission was supposed to have taken place last summer but it was postponed and, by chance of the calendar, it arrives in Spain in the middle of an internal struggle between the PSOE and Unidas Podemos on the changes to this law, and after its approval, with Carmen Calvo voting against , of the trans law, a norm that has caused divergences in the Spanish socialist family.
Among the authorities that will receive the mission are several of the protagonists of these debates: the Vice President of Equality, Irene Montero; the Minister of Justice, Pilar Llop, and president of the equality commission of the Congress of Deputies, Carmen Calvo. The mission will be chaired by the Polish deputy Elżbieta Łukaciejewska (PPE) and will be made up, as incumbents, the Cypriot Eleni Stavrou (PPE), the Swedish Carina Ohlsson (Socialists and Democrats) and Alice Bah Kuhnke (Greens), and the Spanish Rosa Estaràs (PP), Lina Gálvez (PSOE) and Soraya Rodríguez (C's). Margarita de la Pisa (Vox) and María Eugenia Rodríguez Palop (Podemos) will accompany them.
Since the approval, in 2004, of the comprehensive law on gender violence, which was followed by other legislative milestones, Spain is considered a benchmark in equality policies -especially in the fight against the scourge of domestic violence- and it is a model in which many countries look at themselves, also due to the broad social consensus with which they have been adopted, hence the initiative of the liberal group (Renew) and the European socialists to make an official visit to the country, as well as to Sweden (this other mission was finally canceled due to the change of government).
"We are working on a new European directive on gender violence and we wanted to learn more about the progress that has been made in Spain, but it is true that it coincides with a time of great tension," says Gálvez, one of the promoters of the initiative in reference to the pulse by the law of only yes is yes. “I hope that the mission does not go that way, just because there are disagreements about a law that is good but that has had effects that it did not intend and that we are going to reform. It would be a shame if we are given an example in the field of equality and then this issue is instrumentalized. We have already seen that the PP is not interested in talking about the benefits of this law, which it has, nor about the government's social policies, ”criticizes the Andalusian deputy, a feminist historian.
Her colleague from the PP in the European Parliament's women's rights commission has another opinion. "The PSOE wanted to put the law of only yes is yes as an example, so for me, the essential objective of this mission is to get it corrected as soon as possible, so that this reform is not delayed any longer," replies Estaràs, who acknowledges that there is positive aspects in the legislation, such as the measures on cybercrime or the aggravating circumstance of chemical submission, but insists that consent "is central to all legislation on sexual violence because otherwise there would be no crime" and the terms of the law should not be "confused". debate.
The popular MEP intends to question Montero about the consequences of the law of only yes is yes and to raise, both with her and with Calvo, the scope of the trans law, which allows free gender self-determination through an administrative declaration based on the 16 years, without the need to go through a medical report. “I would like to know if they have studied their possible interference with the yes is yes law, positive discrimination policies and sports”, in addition to their impact on the interest of minors, Estaràs advances.
Despite the moment in which it occurs, Gálvez continues to think that the European mission is "a good idea." "Although some things may have to be corrected, we have to be proud of the progress we have made, especially compared to most European countries. And besides, we come from where we come from, we are a recent democracy. The progress we have made It has been brutal", emphasizes the PSOE deputy, who also highlights that Spain is one of the few countries that has included care in its recovery plan, "a central issue" to achieve equality. "I hope they are not going to put their finger on the sore. There is much to learn in Spanish legislation to advance at a European level," she insists.
Unlike the other mission that, on the same dates, from Monday to Wednesday, the European Parliament will send to Madrid to supervise the execution of the recovery plan and control over the use of funds, marked by tension, the preparations for the visit of the women's rights commission have been completely peaceful and collaborative. "It is a very complete program," admits Estaràs, a specialist in disability policies, who has made several proposals that were accepted by the organizers of the trip.
The MEPs will meet with the president of the National Confederation of Women for Equality, Susana Camarero; the director of the Women's Foundation, Carmen Benito, as well as representatives of the unions, lawyers, magistrates and the Observatory of the General Council of the Judiciary. In addition to visiting the Ministries of Equality and Justice, the Congress and the Senate, to address the chapter on legislation on care and dependency, they will meet with the CERMI Foundation, ONCE and Médicos del Mundo, and will hold a meeting with Nacho Álvarez, Secretary of the State of Social Rights. The program also includes meetings with organizations that assist victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation, as well as a meeting with the court prosecutor against violence against women, Teresa Peramato.
