Celebrities urge Spanish men to end gender violence

On Thursday, all Spanish political parties, except the far-right VOX, agreed to renew the State Pact against Gender Violence, which was due to expire in September 2022. [Shutterstock / Tinnakorn jorruang]

Men must take responsibility to end sexist behaviour and gender violence, according to a group of celebrities, including filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, who spoke at an event marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Thursday, EURACTIV’s partner EFE reported.

“Taking advantage of the fact that a girl is drunk to make out with her”, “doubting her relationship with her friends”, “controlling her social media” or “following a woman in the street” are just some examples of violent and sexist behaviour, the participants told Efeminista, EFE’s project dedicated to equality issues.

“I would tell younger people that their first contact with sex and with the pleasure of the senses should not be through porn (…) that the reality of a relationship between a man and a woman goes through other paths of reciprocity and respect”, Almodóvar said.

On Thursday, all Spanish political parties, except the far-right VOX, agreed to renew the State Pact against Gender Violence, which was due to expire in September 2022, and which will allow its funding to be “protected”, EFE reported.

This political consensus “is the basis” for promoting effective public policies to achieve “the shared objective of the total elimination of violence against women”, the president of Spain’s parliament, Meritxel Batet, stressed on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the 16-day international #OrangeTheWorld campaign led by UN Women has kicked off in Brussels to encourage people worldwide to stand up and take action against gender-based violence.

The European Women’s Lobby (EWL), a Brussels-based umbrella network of European women’s associations, has launched a call to the European Commission, asking for a “bold horizontal directive on combatting and preventing violence against women and girls.” Over 60 EU lawmakers have supported the call.

(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.EURACTIV.es)

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