Who knew what or who did what or who should have done what and didn’t. A specific case, that of Íñigo Errejón, has put on the table the capacity for reaction and action of the formations through which the deputy passed, but also the seams of an entire system: the one that should serve to address, cut and, before Above all, prevent machismo in all its forms in political parties. Although the women who have pointed out Errejón’s behavior are outside the parties, their testimonies, as well as those of others who have spoken on this or other occasions, show that machismo also runs through politics. Beyond the most serious and visible cases of harassment and attacks, it does not seem that the groups do everything necessary to eradicate the breeding ground in which they occur.
The Parity Law approved a few months ago modifies the Law of Parties to oblige everyone to have an internal equality plan “which will include measures to prevent and detect sexist violence” and also a protocol “for action in the face of sexist violence that they exercise, inside or outside the organization, affiliates or people who, without being affiliated, have a representative position or have been designated for a specific function, regardless of the hierarchical level or public position they occupy. This will expand the radius of action of the current protocols: not all parties have nor do they all specify what happens with the behaviors that someone exercises outside the organization or do they include awareness and prevention plans.
The PSOE has a prevention and intervention protocol against sexual and gender-based harassment, as does Más Madrid and Podemos, which has one “for awareness, prevention and action against sexist and LGTBIphobic behaviour”. Sumar has a code of ethics, but has not yet developed an anti-harassment plan. In the case of the PP, there is a protocol for preventing workplace harassment, simply, although the text mentions sexual and gender-based harassment as one of the types of harassment, but without specific prevention measures. The same thing happens with Vox, which, yes, avoids the concept of harassment based on sex and speaks of “discriminatory harassment” based on race, sex, religion, disability or age. In Catalonia, all the major parties have a protocol against sexist violence and sexual harassment. Bildu also has it, while the PNV refers to the code of behavior in its statutes.
“We cannot propose zero tolerance with machismo outside and not do the same internally,” emphasizes CCOO union member Begoña Marugán, an expert in equality plans and harassment protocols, who explains that parties, with or without protocol, must have standards. of conduct and behaviors that are reprehensible and punishable, also with expulsion in the case of the most serious ones, such as harassment and assaults. “Protocols and codes of conduct must be connected, one has to refer to the other and vice versa, and not leave anyone inside or outside the organization unprotected. Furthermore, there is no such thing as ‘outside’: you are the same person inside and outside your organization,” he adds.
Marugán highlights that the protocols are not only about action but about prevention: “Harassment and attacks are combated by combating machismo and discrimination.” The director of the Women’s Institute, Cristina Hernández, states the same. “Machismo is viscous, it is in all spaces and there are many degrees. Not everything that happens is aggression or harassment, but everything that happens must be addressed: aggression does not occur if there is no breeding ground that sustains it, from gender roles to stereotypes or dynamics,” he maintains. That is to say, our gaze does not have to be focused only on the tip of the iceberg – the most serious acts that someone can commit – but also on the base that supports it.
How to do it
An advisor to a left-wing party who prefers not to reveal her name speaks precisely about how “structural machismo” permeates organizations and also conditions the way in which these protocols and codes are applied. “I think that many times it is difficult to turn on the initial spigot to get them going or to report something. Once it is turned on, if there are good mechanisms, and some parties have them, it seems to me that they do work, what happens is that most of the time we do not find out because they are processes that do not communicate,” he says. This advisor agrees that the key is “cultural”, that is, it has to do with what it is considered that these documents and internal works have to address and what they do not, what is considered important to point out, what behaviors to pay attention to… “In That area is where we have to advance the most, making organizations in general much more feminist in every sense.”
The “only yes means yes” law already urged companies and organizations not only to form commissions to apply harassment protocols, but also for the entire workforce to receive awareness and preventive actions.
“The best way to prevent machismo and violence is to fill the spaces with feminists, and the difference between some parties and others is how many feminists there are in the organizations,” also assures the director of the Women’s Institute, Cristina Hernández. When a protocol is activated, he continues, it means that there has already been an attack or serious behavior, and that is what must be avoided. “Politics is still a very masculinized field, power and space are not given to you, but are elbowed away, and many women decide to leave spaces in defense of their health and integrity. That is what needs to be transformed,” he says. This transformation involves achieving parity in all spheres, eradicating informal decision-making spaces and hostile behavior as the norm, or ending the segregation of tasks and jobs, Hernández lists.
Trade unionist Begoña Marugán has a similar opinion and affirms that harassment is combated by “ending contempt for women.” This contempt takes many and very different forms, from job discrimination, lower salaries for women or doubt and ignoring the word and experience of women. “Let’s talk about women as citizens. And let’s have a proactive attitude, we cannot leave everything in the hands of the victim,” adds Marugán about the idea that we just have to approve protocols and wait for the women to speak.
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