sexual harassment complaints and a steady stream of resignations

The fall of the former Moncloa councilor, Paco Salazar, accused of sexual harassment, began in recent days a trickle of complaints and resignations of leaders and positions at different levels of the PSOE who have not stopped. From the socialist ranks, they guaranteed that they would strengthen their protocols and be relentless in the face of these behaviors.

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, recognized that the Feminism gives “lessons every day” to his party and to him “first and foremost”. “When we receive these lessons, we ask for forgiveness and act accordingly,” he said this week. The socialist leader also wanted these days to differentiate his party from right-wing groups and defended the feminist policies of the coalition Executive. ANDThis is the map of Me too this shakes the socialist ranks:

Paco Salazar and Antonio Hernandez

Salazar left Moncloa and the Socialist Executive in July, just as he was to be appointed deputy to the new Secretariat of the PSOE Organization after the judicial investigation into Santos Cerdán. Even if he was going to be part of this new executivecomplaints of harassment from two activistsa case that I publish eldiario.escaused great emotion within the party and prevented the confirmation of his new position.

Despite this, his case further exploded for the PSOE since, five months later, the same media revealed that no one within the PSOE had contacted the people concerned. Moreover, their complaints disappeared. from the internal channel of the PSOE aimed at avoiding situations of harassment and discrimination within the party. All this calls into question the party’s internal mechanisms for evaluating and studying these complaints.

After apologizing, the PSOE closed its case this week, confirming that its conduct represents “a very serious fault” foreseen in federal laws and contrary to the party’s code of ethics and conduct, but will not be brought before the prosecution. Likewise, Salazar’s automatic return to the party as a member is prevented if he requests it.

As part of this affair, the PSOE announced that it had opened an information file against Antonio Hernández, who was Salazar’s right-hand man at Moncloa, as “perhaps aware” of the behavior of his superior and for not having acted.

Antonio Navarro, advisor and secretary of the PSOE of Torremolinos

At the same time that it was known that the complaints that the two activists had filed against Salazar had disappeared, the PSOE added a new controversy with the case of Antonio Naranjo, councilor and secretary of the PSOE of Torremolinos, denounced for sexual harassment.

The complainant, a PSOE activist, allegedly received messages of a sexual nature, insinuations and non-consensual propositions from Navarro, in an environment that she described as “intimidating, degrading and humiliating”.

The PSOE temporarily suspended him from activism on December 5 and opened a case against him after The prosecutor’s office opened proceedings for alleged sexual harassment. The complainant had reported the facts to the party in June, but not being satisfied with her party’s response, she decided to contact the public prosecutor’s office.

José Tome, president of the Provincial Council of Lugo

Last Tuesday, the program Code 10 revealed that he secretary of the PSOE in Lugo and mayor of Monforte de Lemos, José Toméhad been accused by several women of “repeated sexual harassment” within the party. According to information, there are “at least six” people concerned who transferred their testimonies to the internal socialist channel.

Apparently I took would have kept a behavior pattern that, according to the plaintiffs, “It had been known for years in the province“. One of them assures that in Lugo “it was an open secret” and that “everyone knew it.” “It doesn’t matter if you are a municipal councilor, activist, journalist or mayor, no one is safe,” said one of the people concerned.

After all this, he resigned on December 10 from the presidency of the Provincial Council, but he retains the role of provincial deputy and mayor of Monforte. Ferraz suspended him from any activist activity. In the present case, moreover, after the request was known, The Secretary for Equality of the PSOE of the Galicia region, Silvia Fraga, presented her resignation this Friday. Sources from the party leadership in Galicia told the media that Fraga’s departure was due to a disagreement with a note sent on the first day the affair broke out, the wording of which was not consulted and in which she was also not named, since only the head of the Organization, Lara Méndez, was mentioned.

Javier Izquierdo, senator and secretary of Studies and Programs of the Federal Executive of the PSOE

On December 11, Senator Javier Izquierdo, also Secretary of Studies and Programs of the Federal Executive, surprisingly announced that he was leaving all his political and institutional functions. “to tackle other professional and personal tasks”. He did so amid a wave of sexual harassment complaints against other socialist leaders.

Ferraz “ex officio”, he opened an informative file after learning that certain journalistic reports reported a possible case of sexual harassment which concerned him, even if no complaint was filed against him in the party’s internal channels. “After years in public and organic functions of my party, I informed the federal leadership of my resignation as a member of the CEF and also as a senator,” Izquierdo reported on social networks.

Toni González, mayor of Almussafes

This Friday it was also learned that the PSOE was investigating Toni González, mayor of Almussafes, deputy secretary of the PSPV-PSOE of the province of Valencia and member of the regional executive, for the complaint of sexual and workplace harassment filed by a woman. The events allegedly occurred at the Almussafes Town Hall and the woman went to the PSOE anti-harassment channel and the Department of Respect for Socialist Norms.