¡BASTA YA!

Yesterday was the international day for the elimination of violence against women.

As a day it was important to highlight the violence and abuse that women suffer.

However to eradicate it, as we must, it is not a 24-hour event but a day-in and day-out task.

So far this year 68 women have died in Spain from domestic violence or at the hands of former partners.

True, a good percentage of those were immigrants in to the country, but such violence knows no race, no colour and no creed.

Many women are the victims of violence or murder in Spain because they are immigrants and they are more fearful of seeking help because of their illegal status than they are of their attackers and slayers. That is why many organisations that work in offering protection to abused illegal immigrants urge them to put their own safety first.

The Ministerio de Igualdad estimates that so far this year 400,000 women have suffered domestic violence in Spain. Every 40 minutes a woman in Andalucía denounces her partner or former partner. In some ways these statistics are more telling than the terrible death total.

Many believe that yesterday was about women but in fact it was about men.

It is men that carry out these vile acts of violence and men that kill these unfortunate women.

Hence it is only men who can stamp out this blight on our society.

It is therefore time for all men to stand and up and be counted.

It is time for all men to reject violence against women in any shape or form.

It is time for men to show no tolerance for those who condone or carry out such acts.

¡Basta Ya! - is a fine slogan – but the time for slogans has passed.

Men need to act now - ¡Basta Ya!