COSTA BLANCA NEWS – TAKING A STAND AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE IN ALFAZ

ALFAZ publicly condemned gender-based violence aimed at women on International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
All members of the corporation stood outside the town hall building on November 25 while Equality councillor Rocio Guijarra read an eight-point manifesto.
Approved by the town hall and drafted by the Valencian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, the manifesto called for sexist violence to be added to the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women.
Of most significance in the manifesto was the recommendation that the regional Justice department, the national government’s Ministry of Justice and the General Council of the Judiciary revised procedures and “intensified training of members of the judiciary.”
This was an indirect reference to recent demonstrations and protests following rape case verdicts which made clear that the judiciary’s definitions of the crime are archaic and, critics claim, biased against women.
The manifesto ended with the town hall’s pledge to training all municipal employees ‘from the police to social workers’ to ensure that they ‘act correctly.’