The Minister of Equality, Ana Redondo (PSOE), attended this Thursday a minute of silence called in Miranda de Ebro (Burgos, 36,00 inhabitants), a fire caused by the ex-partner of one of them, José MG, already arrested. The man, who is pending judicial disposition, had a record of mistreating the partner he was with in 2007, for kidnapping and sexually abusing a nine-year-old girl in 2015, and retaining, attacking and chaining a woman in 2023. Redondo has lamented these “sexist murders that represent a qualitative leap in sexist terrorism.”
The minister has urged judges and prosecutors to apply maximum sentences, since the accused had recently been released from prison; He has also attacked Vox for being “denier” and has accused social networks of “generating hatred and violence in real life.” Redondo has condemned the events, has demanded social consensus and asked for legislation against specific sexist violence in Castilla y León, which lacks it. The community is in full electoral campaign ahead of the regional elections scheduled this Sunday.
The minister has expressed “terrible helplessness.” “But it cannot be hopelessness, we have made progress and we have to continue with unity, rigor and firmness, improving what does not work, improving protection instruments,” he added before assuring that they are going to contact all the representatives of the political parties in Congress to study how to continue moving forward and that he is going to convene a crisis committee on the latest sexist murders on March 17.
Journalists have asked him how the detainee, José MG, was free despite his criminal record and could commit something like that. To this, Redondo has pointed out that “it is possible to review them. The important thing is to apply them correctly with forcefulness, that judges and prosecutors reach the maximum limits permitted by law and that society and institutions collaborate in prevention and in changing the sexist culture, of domination, for peace, democracy and respect if we want a society free of sexist violence.”
The minister has pointed out to women that there are monitoring systems for repeat offenders and that they can use them “to find out if they are with a repeat abuser.” That record to which the minister refers belongs to the Ministry of the Interior but the data, however, is not public. . It is when being a victim of sexist violence, and when filing a complaint, that the State security forces and bodies evaluate the case and decide whether or not to inform the woman that her current partner already has a history of abuse.
The head of Equality has participated in a minute of silence before the Mirandés town hall, on whose back street the triple death occurred on Tuesday: José MG went to the house that his ex-partner shared with his mother and, after rebuking her, he piled belongings on the landing of the house and set them on fire, killing these two women and another neighbor who could not escape, in addition to causing several injuries, including two children.
“They are life projects that are cut short, a failure in a democratic society that continues to move towards a society free of sexist violence,” said Redondo, who considers the fight against sexist terrorism a “state issue” and has appealed for unity between institutions to strengthen themselves against it. The senior official from Valladolid recalled that Castilla y León, governed by the PP since 1987 and which holds regional elections on Sunday, lacks its own laws on sexist violence: “We need legislation, there is a lack of specific legislation that adapts progress and consensus. It is important and still in the drawer, we need denialism to be rejected.”
The surveys indicate the possible growth of the extreme right of Vox in Castilla y León, against whom the head of Equality has charged, criticizing her “denialism.” Redondo accuses Vox of “generating hatred on social networks, which generates violence in women’s real lives and has dramatic consequences.”
So far this year, 11 women have been murdered by their partners or ex-partners. Since the company started in 2003, there are 1,354.
Telephone 016 assists victims of sexist violence, their families and those around them 24 hours a day, every day of the year, in 53 different languages. The number is not registered on the telephone bill, but the call must be deleted from the device. You can also contact via email and by WhatsApp at the number 600 000 016. Minors can contact the ANAR Foundation telephone number 900 20 20 10. If it is an emergency situation, you can call 112 or the National Police (091) and the Civil Guard (062) telephone numbers. And if you cannot call, you can use the ALERTCOPS application, from which an alert signal is sent to the Police with geolocation.
