In Toledo, King Felipe VI opens conference organised by Spanish National Police on gender equality in security

The opening ceremony was chaired by H.M. the King of Spain and attended by the President of the Regional Government of Castile-La Mancha, Emiliano García Page; the State Secretary for Security, Ana Botella; the Mayor of Toledo, Milagros Tolón; and the Director-General of the Spanish National Police Force, Francisco Pardo; among others.

Ministerio del InteriorFernando Grande-Marlaska stressed that the greatest achievement by the Spanish National Police is its successful decision to defend and promote equality between men and women. In this regard, he underlined the need to work on the "full integration" of women into the force, "not only because that is "justice" but because "it is the only way to stay on the path of excellence".

On the "path to genuine equality", the Acting Minister for Home Affairs recalled that the more than 9,500 women currently in the Spanish National Police can be found at all levels and in all categories of the force, both in operational and managerial posts, as well as in all the international security bodies and missions involving Spain.

Fernando Grande-Marlaska expressed satisfaction over the progress made in the field of State law enforcement agencies in Spain and advocated ongoing efforts from all, with all parts of society, to continue improving results in terms of women taking part in security actions, as another step on the "unstoppable" path towards "genuine" equality.

On the cutting edge

Ministerio del InteriorThe Acting Minister for Home Affairs congratulated the Spanish National Police on organising a conference of this nature, which "reminds us that Spain stands on the cutting edge and will spare no effort to lead initiatives aimed at achieving the integration of women into the positions they deserve within our police and our society".

This international meeting seeks to foster the creation of partnerships in the field of gender equality by exchanging professional knowledge between the various national and international police forces and organisations.

Until 8 November, around 500 experts from more than 40 different countries representing all the police forces in the world and international organisations such as Interpol, Europol and Iberpol, will discuss the issue of female leadership in the police and partnership synergies on gender equality, among other topics.

Non official translation