The Ombudsman, Ángel Gabilondo, has claimed this 8th March the role of women in science, in an event held at the headquarters of the institution on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
The event was attended by two scientists: the director of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), María Blasco, and the researcher from the University of Seville, Rocío Ríos. Teresa Jiménez-Becerril and Patricia Bárcena, first deputy and second deputy respectively, also spoke.
In his speech, the Ombudsman said that “today it is still essential to demand the silenced word of women” and stressed that “we must give a voice to those who do not have one” and create the conditions so that “they can speak out”. The Ombudsman has to be the home of listening, he said, and especially “listening to women, who are so often ignored”.
During the presentation of the event, Teresa Jiménez-Becerril stressed that it is necessary to continue working for equality and insisted that “we owe it to future generations, but also to our grandmothers and mothers, who had a hard time ensuring that today we enjoy greater freedoms and opportunities than they did”.
María Blasco, for her part, stated that “there is still a long way to go” and for this reason, “days like today are important because they allow us to put on gender glasses”, she asserted. Blasco also assured that “we should do this every day so that equality is effective and real”, and to this end, she asked those who occupy management positions “to provide the means to make it easier for men and women to have the same options”.
Rocío Ríos also sent out a message of optimism by assuring that, despite the difficulties of the scientific profession, which makes it difficult to reconcile personal and professional life, “I am in love with science, and I believe that I will be able to keep doing what I like”.
The second deputy ombudsman, Patricia Bárcena, has warned that there are still barriers that hinder women’s ability to integrate into teams, especially when factors such as mobility, work-life balance or maternity come into play. For this reason, she stressed that the Ombudsman “cannot remain aloof or impassive” and has undertaken to propose to the public authorities, “on the basis of an independent analysis and based on constitutional values”, ways to ensure that “all women can enjoy all the rights that they have today and always”.
During the event, a video of a student from the IES La Eria (secondary school), in Oviedo, was shown as an example of the concern that young people have about the difficulties that women encounter in their professional lives.
The event was streamed live and can be viewed in its entirety at: https://www.defensordelpueblo.es/8m-mujeres-en-ciencia/
