The Basque institutions have stressed in the preamble to 8 March the need to combat retrograde speeches and anti-feminism

On the occasion of International Women's Day, which will take place this Sunday, 8 March, the Basque institutions, parties and actors have highlighted throughout the week.

The Ombudsman, for example, advocates "clearly defending" the achievements made in the field of equal rights for women, "a fundamental pillar in defending democracy, especially in the face of hate speech and new threats in the digital age."

He recalled that the report, entitled "Macho attitudes among adolescents and young peoplein the Basque Country  ", had already warned of the negative impact that the Internet is having on the equality of young people and adolescents, and in its statement on 8 March," the dissemination of stereotypes, disinformation, the trivialization of violence and, in particular, digital violence "warned of the harm to women's rights.

The President, Imanol Pradales, has lamented in a parliamentary hearing this Friday that "retrograde speeches that try to distort feminism and question equality" are increasing in the digital field and in public debate.

In his words, the danger of these speeches "is not only to retreat," but "to normalize and integrate into society, especially among young people."

He has warned that "it is not an isolated and sudden movement, but a political and well-funded strategy."

He has therefore stressed on 8 March that "equality is not a one-day celebration, but a daily commitment".

Inits declaration adopted by the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, it stresses that "equality cannot be an object of opinion, but must be guaranteed by the public authorities".

He has denounced "the rise of speeches that deny the structural inequality that women continue to suffer in our society" because these messages aim to "question achievements and weaken feminism."

Thus, it has reaffirmed the organization's commitment to "feminist public policies" to "combat inequalities and all forms of male violence" and to move "without backward steps towards real and effective equality". 

Thetext agreed by the Board of Speakers of the City of Vitoria-Gasteiz proclaims equality between women and men in the face of the rise of the anti-feminist movement expressed through "reactionary and misogynistic speeches" aimed at nullifying the achievements of feminism and denying the very existence of male violence.

They have proclaimed a society that educates in equality, without stereotypes and based on respect, freedom and dignity; and they have stressed that defending equality "includes actively confronting those discourses that reproduce patriarchal and social domination." 

(We are working to complete the information)