Some 70 PSdeG women sign a manifesto against harassment and in support of Silvia Fraga, former Secretary for Equality

Some 70 socialist women signed an open manifesto “for feminism at PSdeG-PSOE” and in support of her colleague Silvia Fragawho resigned from his position as Secretary of Equality due to differences over the way in which the internal complaint for sexual harassment against José Tomé, former party leader in Lugo, was handled.

“There is no room for any action that protects or relativizes sexual harassment and machismo,” they conclude in their manifesto, supported by the mayor of La Coruña, Inés Rey, and other municipal councilors, among several dozen other names.

From “loyalty to the party”, they defend the need to clarify the factsprotect victims and preserve the integrity of institutions, for which they demand “firm, transparent and coherent action” as the only one that will maintain the confidence of citizens and demonstrate that “there is no place for impunity or for any form of violence against women”.

In the text, they emphasize that the known facts of harassment and the complaints presented in the party’s internal channel “cause stupor, shame and disaffection” towards a party that “has feminism engraved in the soul” and warn that in the face of Fraga’s resignation, they cannot remain “impassive”, after the “exemplary work” that he has carried out.

The signatories, who define themselves as “socialist activists and women”, according to Efethey address their fellow activists, but also sympathizers and citizens in general to publicly express your support for women victims of sexual harassment whom they denounced, for their “act of bravery”.

They demand “transparency in the resolution of these complaints” and that “rigorous processes always focused on the protection of victims” be guaranteed, with a “rapid, clear and energetic” response based on “exemplarity and political responsibility”, particularly from those who occupy organic positions.

“Zero tolerance is not a motto, it is a democratic requirement which allows neither exceptions nor nuances.and is an inalienable part of socialist values,” they warn.

In addition to regretting Fraga’s resignation, which they describe as “an act of feminist commitment”, they defend her work and career against what, they assure, are “information or interpretations intended to be slipped and which do not correspond to the truth or to Silvia’s way of understanding and living politics and feminism”.