The socialist group in the Tenerife Cabildo has denounced that the “important cut” in the Corporation’s Budgets In terms of Equality, it puts at risk the care provided by the Institution to women and their children who are victims of sexist violence.
Minister Marian Franquet has pointed out that it does not make any sense that in expansive budgets, approved by CC, PP and VOX, in which there is a 10% growth globally, Equality policies are just going to be cut and that it is put into risk some actions of the Cabildo itself in support of the protection of women victims of gender violence.
“All of this in a context where machismo and violence towards women is increased with weeks like the one that just happened with the murder of four women and a girl, without forgetting the woman from the South of Tenerife who is still hospitalized after the fire in her house caused by her ex-partner,” said the socialist counselor.
Regarding the reductions, Marian Franquet highlighted that the Cabildo’s Equality policy has suffered the biggest cuts in the last decade and explained that the program Tenerife Violeta has gone from a budget of 865,304 euros in 2023 to 822,490 in 2024, which represents a decrease of 5%.
Franquet added that the budget for the Equality area (not counting the money allocated to Diversity) has gone from 1,606,231 in 2023 to 1,462,981 in 2024, which represents 9% less. And in the case of the gender violence network, the reduction is more than 1.2 million euros, going from 11,932,433 in 2023 to 10,725,499 in 2024.
The counselor stressed that after the presentation of the budgets, CC and PP presented an amendment to increase this contribution by 324,544 euros, which continues to represent a reduction of almost 900,000 euros in the gender violence network.
“Although they try to hide this reduction with announcements of new services, the truth is that there has been a significant cut in this matter and that it is not something isolated or coincidental because in the Government of the Canary Islands, where CC and PP also govern, has produced the same cut,” Franquet explained.
The counselor insisted that these detriments “correspond with the political positions of the right, both in the Government of the Canary Islands and in the Cabildo of Tenerife, where we see how the first woman to preside over the Institution makes anti-feminist decisions.”
“This occurs at a time when it is essential to increase existing resources as well as open new, more specialized and accurate lines of action that the socialist group will soon contribute with different political actions,” added the former Councilor for Social Action of the Cabildo.
With these budgets, according to the counselor, “the Council renounces the expansion of the care network and its specialization that should also respond to the diversities of older, disabled or racialized women.”
“From the socialist group in the Cabildo of Tenerife we fear that these political decisions are the beginning of a path of denial of gender violence or the need for actions to promote the objective of real equality that society demands,” he added.
Almost 6,000 women served
Marian Franquet pointed out that in Tenerife, almost 6,000 women are treated annually who go to some of the victim care resources. And she also highlighted that they assist a significant number of minors who are also victims of this violence.
“The Cabildo of Tenerife, with these budgets, renounces improving the care network and continuing to work at the root of inequality to eradicate it because this budget reduction will limit the scope of the programs, projects and actions emanating from the strategic axes,” he defends. the socialist counselor.
In Franquet’s opinion, “this budget reduction in these policies is the continuity of a series of strategic decisions in the Tenerife Cabildo itself that go against feminist policies.”
Down the ranks
Marian Franquet also denounced that one of Rosa Dávila’s first decisions upon assuming the Presidency of the Cabildo was for the Equality area to go from being a Delegate Council, dependent on the Presidency, to an Island Directorate, moving down the hierarchy. ranges of political responsibility.
In addition to this drop in the ranks, Diversity is added to this Island Direction. “That is, the same person to attend to two realities that, although they are clearly necessary policies, are totally different. With this measure they become confused and diluted,” said Franquet.
In his opinion, “this measure is especially bloody when President Rosa Dávila has created a Ministry with a Special Delegation in Education for Prevention. With these decisions it might seem that equality policies were not so necessary for the current government, or that a ‘tailored’ distribution of areas and responsibilities is made according to the interests of the people it has.”
For Franquet, another decision made by the president that also represents a setback in Equality is the non-occupation of any of the Vice-Presidencies by any woman.
In her opinion, “this is a policy in which the only attempt is to make visible the political participation of women in the president, making the rest invisible and reducing the real participation and access to positions of ‘power’ or ‘influence’ for women. that, effectively, they are half of the population; so they should hold half of the relevant political positions in the Cabildo as well.”
