Alcaldesa de Antella condena asesinato machista y promueve enfrentamiento a la violencia de género.
VALÈNCIA, 10 Jul.
Antella has gathered this Monday to condemn the gender-based murder that took place this Sunday in the town, where a man killed his wife in front of their 12-year-old son and then committed suicide. "We must name gender violence to fight against it," defended the dozens of people who attended.
In addition, the attendees observed a minute of silence in repudiation of this femicide, an act that will be repeated on Tuesday and Wednesday due to the three days of mourning decreed by the City Council of the municipality.
The Government Delegate in the Valencian Community, Pilar Bernabé, who attended the gathering, stated that gender violence is "a social scourge that kills women simply for being women".
"Today, more than ever, we must advocate that there is a violence that exists that is against women, which is gender violence," she defended, and stressed that "we must name it to fight against it". "We cannot fight against something that is denied, therefore, it is essential to name it, understand it and denounce it in order to combat it," she declared.
Bernabé advocated "moving away from denialist discourses, social confrontation, and especially institutional confrontation". "It is necessary, but above all it is a matter of justice, justice for those women, for their families, for the sons and daughters who are left behind, who are orphaned by absurd, limitless violence against women," she expressed, and insisted that "it must be named and recognized, because otherwise it cannot be fought against".
In this regard, she highlighted the "social consensus gained over so many years, after 1,212 women killed in this country, since we have records". "In this 2023, there have been 28 women killed (due to gender violence), two in the Valencian Community," she emphasized, and stated that "for all of them" Spaniards "must advocate more than ever for that consensus reached".
On his part, the President of the Valencian Government in office, Ximo Puig, assured that "for the people of Valencia, today is a day of mourning" in which they "mourn the death of María and the destruction of that indelible union forever imprinted in a mother and child".
He also conveyed his condolences to the victim's relatives and reiterated: "Today is a very sad day for Antella and for all Valencians". "You have lived, loved, and witnessed what that disease - which can't be described any other way - that those who think they can define the future of women cause," he lamented.
Puig affirmed that Valencian society "does not want in any way to contribute to the idea that there are men who believe they have a superior right over women". "We are all aware that our society has many problems, but little by little, together, we are solving them," he pointed out.
In this regard, he warned that "if we do not solve this problem we have among us, which justifies machismo, we will not make progress". "We will never make enough progress," he added.
"We must be united, all of us, above any idea, any partisanship, and we must fight against that idea that ultimately causes death, murder, but also the abuse of so many women who are among us," he demanded, and affirmed that Antella has been this Monday "a symbol of resistance against barbarism".
Finally, he maintained that the fight against gender violence "is the most important common cause that we can all embrace". "The cause that speaks of equality, of women's right to have their own life project. That is what we all represent today: hope that what happened yesterday will never happen again," he concluded.
When asked about the concentration held this morning in front of Les Corts where a banner rejecting macho violence was displayed and from which Vox deputies distanced themselves again, Bernabé described the party's actions as "unprecedented". "We cannot allow it, we cannot go backwards," she said.
"That institutional confrontation does not respond to social will, to the social consensus acquired after years and years of struggle, after years and years of women being killed," she stated, and maintained that "certain issues must be set aside from denialist ideological discourses, which only lead to confrontation and hatred".
She also pointed out that the President of Les Corts, Llanos Massó - who remained with the Vox deputies - "represents Les Corts, not a political group, not an ideological position". Bernabé denounced that governments and institutions that refuse to acknowledge violence as it exists should not be maintained. She appealed to those who support these positions to "withdraw them". "We cannot bear it," she expressed.