Fuerteventura alza la voz por la igualdad en el Día Internacional de la Mujer

Fuerteventura raises its voice for equality at the island event for International Women’s Day

The event highlighted the historical struggle of women and the need to lighten the burden that women carry in society

Friday, February 7, 2025.-

«The uprising of women means the uprising of humanity. Our lives will not be exploited from birth to death.» With this statement from the manifesto read by two students from CEIP Pájara, the spirit of the island event for International Women’s Day, held today at the Pepe Dámaso Museum of Modern Art in the municipality of Pájara, was summarized. An event organized by the Cabildo de Fuerteventura, in conjunction with the City Council of Pájara.

The event featured speeches by the president of the Cabildo, Lola García; the councilor for Social Action and Diversity, Víctor Alonso; the mayor of Pájara, Alejandro Jorge; and the councilor for Social Services of Pájara, Kathaisa Rodríguez. Other authorities such as parliamentary deputies, the insular director of the General State Administration, María Jesús de la Cruz, senator Paloma Hernández, and representatives from both the insular institution and the city councils were also present.

In a room adorned with the official poster of this event, the event began with a musical performance by the Municipal School of Music of Pájara, which performed the song Wave by Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, creating an emotional atmosphere.

Subsequently, the video of the campaign by the Canarian Institute of Equality (ICI) was screened, a piece that showcases the struggles and achievements of women in the archipelago. This was followed by the screening of the video ‘Pájara en Femenino’, a tribute to the women who have made a mark in the municipality and who represent all the women of the same, who also received recognition during the event.

One of the highlights came with the reading of the manifesto by Jimena Fernández Brito and Yarey Cabrera Hernández. With strength and conviction, they gave voice to a text that recalls the historical struggles of women and advocates for a present and future of equality of rights and opportunities.

Music once again took center stage with the performance of A Felicidade, also by Antonio Carlos Jobim, by the Municipal School of Music, closing the event with a note of hope and celebration.

In the context of this commemoration, the facade of the Cabildo de Fuerteventura will be illuminated tonight in violet, underscoring the importance of keeping alive the fight for equality and social justice.

Archipelago united for women

‘Let’s look out for all’ is the motto with which this year the Government of the Canary Islands, in alliance with the seven island councils, has focused the institutional campaign for March 8. The objective is to sensitize the entire population to the great burdens that women bear in all areas of their lives due to gender roles imposed by society, which condition expectations about their behaviors and responsibilities.

Additionally, this campaign aims to shine a light on the double and triple discriminations that women suffer when other particular circumstances are added, such as having a body or characteristics that do not conform to beauty standards, different ethnicity, disability, or fewer or more economic resources.

The message also focuses on intersectionality, a concept developed by activist and academic Kimberlé Crenshaw, which posits that people’s social identities, such as gender, race, social class, sexual orientation, and disability, do not exist in isolation but intersect and create inequalities.

In this sense, a report from Coordinacanarias (Coordinator of People with Physical Disabilities of the Canary Islands) reflects that almost 30% of women with disabilities do not complete primary education, while in the case of men with disabilities the percentage is 22%. Likewise, this document indicates that there is a significant percentage of women with disabilities without education, as 8.2% are illiterate. In the case of men with disabilities, the illiteracy rate is 5.6%