Tijola in Almeria tackles gender violence in rural areas

THE issue of gender-based violence in rural areas was the focus of an event staged in Tijola.
Organised by the Junta de Andalucia’s Tourism, Regeneration, Justice and Local Administration regional ministry and financed by the State Pact on Gender Violence, the 1^st Day on Gender Violence in the Rural Sphere brought together some 100 participants.
Among those attending were Junta Youth Justice director general Francisco Ontiveros, the director of the Andalucia Women’s Institute Laura Fernandez Rubio and Tijola Mayor Jose Juan Martinez.
“In rural areas we have to fight against gender-based violence with more effort, given that in the last three years, seven out of 10 sexist murders have been in localities with less than 100,000 inhabitants”, the Tijola Mayor told the gathering in reference to findings in the latest Judicial Power General Council’s Gender Violence Observatory report.
“This painful reality” means the smallest municipalities have to double their efforts and allocate more resources to prevention and to assisting and protecting victims”, the Mayor stressed.
He made particular reference to the vulnerability of women in rural areas, attributing a lack of speaking out on the problem to factors including “fear derived from a more traditional mentality or economic dependence.”
He also mentioned a lack of access to assistance systems in villages due to the closure of police stations and a lack of public transport and health care, calling on administrations to take action in order to create a society where women are “free and equal.”