Spain marches for International Women’s Day
Friday, March 8, 2019 @ 9:06 PM
HUNDREDS of thousands of ladies and a fair few men hit the streets across Spain today (Friday) as part of the International Women’s Day demonstration – and a high number went on strike.
Now a global phenomenon, the Women’s Day strike is not limited to Spain – Greece held its first-ever today – and the idea is for users of public services, including private-sector industries, to experience what would happen if female workers literally disappeared from the planet.
This meant only 76% of trains, including the metro, were running in Madrid, but in practice very few women in the care and medical professions downed tools due to the vital nature of their jobs.
Spain’s calls for equality relate to women’s safety, especially in light of the recent final prosecution report relating to the disappearance of Madrid teenager Diana Quer, who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a complete stranger whilst walking back from the local fiestas in A Pobra do Caramiñal to her family holiday home in August 2016.
Women’s safety in public, their right to be free from sexual harassment, along with domestic and gender violence – which also affects men but, statistically, in Spain at least, is overwhelmingly committed by males against females – were the crucial issues the demonstrations focused on, although other issues such as care duties falling mainly on female shoulders, the gender pay gap which is calculated to be around 30%, and female under-representation in leadership roles, sports and history were also on the agenda.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com