The conference of the ‘Informe Sombra al GREVIO 2018: a propósito del Convenio de Estambul contra la violencia de género’ has been organised by the Committees for Equality of the Blasco Ibáñez Campus, and has been presented in the Palmireno Room in the Faculty of Geography and History.

The conference has been inaugurated by the principal of the Universitat de València, Mª Vicenta Mestre, along with the vice principal of Equality, Diversity and Sustainability, Elena Martínez, and the general director of ‘la Oficina Alta Comisionada Agenada 2030’, Federico Buyolo.

In her own words, the principal Mª Vicenta Mestre has remarked that the Universitat has ‘a strong commitment to break the glass ceiling and the gender gap inside the walls of the Universitat’. She also mentioned fighter women such as Carmen Alborch, Clara Campoamor or Victoria Kent. Mestre has recalled that the Universitat ‘provides support through our excellent groups of research and consequently contribute to improve the attention to victims through the public and social knowledge'. Mestre did not forget the importance of one of the solutions that the report shows, that education ‘is the main support of our institution.’

The Convention of the Council of Europe (or Istanbul Convention) about the prevention and fight against gender and domestic violence, was ratified by Spain in 2014, and goes further the Spanish legislation, not only to create an international frame for the protection of women and children, but also to cover sexual, labour, institutional or other kinds of violence not inflicted by the sentimental partner or ex-partner and to not subordinate the juridical, psychological and social attention to the victims in the presentation of a legal complaint.

Spain will be the 14º country, from the 33 that had ratified the Convention, to be evaluated by its monitoring mechanism by GREVIO (Grupo de Expertos en la lucha contra la violencia contra la mujer del Consejo de Europa), based not only in the response of the Government to a large questionnaire, but also in the reports from ONG’s Sombra.

The principal aim of the conference is to spread awareness to the academic community, about the causes and consequences of violence inflicted to women, as well as of the necessity to prevent this type of violence from the classrooms and to motivate the students to manifest their rejection towards these acts, and to reflect their opinions and ideas about it.

This Conference is addressed to all the academic community, to the teachers, the staff of the administration and specially, to the students from the Blasco Ibáñez campus. The different faculties and education centres are part of our society and we all have the moral obligation to get involved in the eradication of this serious problem of public health.

The organization has been in charge of the Committees for Equality from the Faculties of Blasco Ibáñez, specifically the Faculties of Philosophy and Education Sciences, of Geography and History, of Philology, Translation and Communication, of Nursing and Podiatry, of Psychology, of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences and the faculty of Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. Furthermore, the Office of the Vice-Principal for Culture and Equality and the Equality Unit also participated in the conference.