Ana Redondo: "In Spain, we want to go further and continue to be at the forefront of equality"

The Minister for Equality, Ana Redondo, during her speech at the spring plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe held in Strasbourg

The Minister for Equality, Ana Redondo, has taken part in the spring plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. Spain took part in a joint debate on improving the implementation of the Istanbul Convention and on the culture of consent, where she defended the equality policies promoted by the Government of Spain.

Ana Redondo recalled that in Spain 50 years ago, women could neither travel abroad nor open a bank account without their husband's permission, and how consensus has been key in the development of equality policies. "In Spain, we want to go further and continue to be at the forefront," she affirmed during her speech, in which the minister highlighted the role of the 2004 Law against Gender Violence, which established three pillars in this fight: "Legislation, the social and institutional network, and the necessary economic resources."

She also emphasised the consensus achieved through the State Pact against Gender Violence, which originated in 2017 and was renewed in 2025, with the far right being the only party absent. "This social and political pact comprises more than 400 different measures, many of which are reflections on the Istanbul Convention." Redondo praised Spain's pioneering work in Europe in combating vicarious violence, digital violence, and the romanticisation of prostitution and pimping through the internet, as well as violent pornography "which is becoming normalised among our young people."

She also highlighted the measures included in the Pact on economic violence. In this regard, Redondo has advocated for new measures in cases where a parent refuses to pay child support after a divorce. "It is important to create a mechanism by which the State advances these child support payments, which serve to maintain the best interests of the child and to prevent this violence that is perpetrated against many women in a hidden way and is the basis for other forms of violence," Redondo pointed out.

Consent

With regard to consent, the minister highlighted in Strasbourg the importance of the Comprehensive Guarantee of Sexual Freedom Law "in the face of the growing distrust of women's words." Therefore, the minister praised the work of the Government of Spain with different instruments and their improvement, such as the Violenta Points, which are now also being installed in pharmacies, for example, or the 59 crisis centres opened throughout the country to assist victims of sexual violence.

Non official translation