Spain’s PM Says ‘Only Through Feminism Will We Build Best Democracies’

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said this week that “only through feminism will we build the best democracies, which is precisely what some people do not want to happen in Europe”.

Sánchez made the statement Monday when announcing that the Spanish Government will take “another step towards equality, approving the Strategic Plan for Effective Equality between Men and Women 2022-2025” in the Council of Ministers.

Sánchez was speaking at a commemorative event for International Women’s Day, organized by the Ministry of Equality, which was held at the Círculo de Bellas Artes, where he also stressed that the Senate will approve the Proposed Organic Law to improve the protection of orphans who are victims of sex-based violence.

“We are certainly making progress, but we cannot let our guard down for a moment. We will not stop until this society is profoundly egalitarian, inclusive and just, and a place free of male violence,” he added.

According to Sánchez, “our society continues to live with the terror” that sex-based violence represents, and recalled that since January 1, 2003, the date from which there are records, 1,132 women have been murdered in Spain as victims of sexist terrorism, and six so far this year, two of these in under twenty-four hours. “There is an urgent need to eradicate sex-based violence from our society. We can’t stop until we achieve it,” the Prime Minister said.

In this sense, Sánchez warned of the fact that “a part of society still denies sex-based violence” and of the “obvious link between the denial of this violence and the violence itself”. For this reason, he insisted that “as long as a feminist culture and education are not shared, as long as the codes in relationships are born of misogyny, they will be in danger,”

During his speech, Sánchez also claimed that Spain ranks sixth in the EU in terms of gender equality and that the country has the Government with the most women in the European Union and in its entire history: 60.9% of its members are women ministers. However, in his opinion, “what makes us a feminist Government is that we do feminist politics. This is what is truly transformative, turning feminism into a transversal policy”, because “a culture of equality can only be consolidated with public policies that have a gender perspective”. In this regard, he recalled that we are the only EU country that has incorporated gender equality as one of the pillars on which the transformative processes linked to the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan are based .

A record budget allocation for the Ministry of Equality

Sánchez also highlighted the fact that, in the General State Budget for 2022, “the allocation for the Ministry of Equality exceeds 500 million euros, a record figure: 225 million euros in policies to promote equal opportunities and an 55.7% increase in investment to combat the scourge of male violence through the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan”.

In the opinion of Sánchez , “in a truly modern and economically competitive country, we need more women in more decision-making areas, in any of their dimensions”. As an example of this, the president highlighted that, “thanks to the combined action of the Government and civil society, we have managed to go from 31% of women on the boards of directors of state-owned public companies in 2015 to 37% in 2020, six points more.”

Finally, the Prime Minister wanted to end by recognizing the value of feminism as “a broad, integrating movement, which thinks of men, women and the fair coexistence in full equality of citizens as a whole” and which “improves our societies”.

“It is only through feminism that we will build the best democracies, which is what some people do not want to see happen in Europe,” Sánchez concluded.