Life Goes On (Mostly)

There is a new institutional advertising campaign put out by the Junta de Andalucía (PP, Cs and Vox) essentially telling women to 'put on a brave face' when they have been victims of domestic violence.   

As if it only ever happens once. 

Gender violence is handled in Spain with understanding by the Ministerio de la Presidencia, and there is an emergency police number to call (016).

It used to be called Violencia Machista, but Vox (at least), hostile to the use of gender in family violence, now suggests violencia intrafamiliar.  From this philosophy comes the new campaign in Andalucía (where Vox has a participation), which is against malos tratos (‘mistreatment’, as it were). However, getting over it with a toothsome smile may be a little far-fetched.

Adding insult to injury, they have used agency models for the campaign...

The conservative El Mundo does its best to explain why ‘they are actresses’ here. 
After all, we could hardly use genuine battered women... for one thing, they wouldn't smile properly.

The campaign, billboards, TV and so on, is costing the Andalusian taxpayer 1.2 million euros. The television advert in particular, says the advertising company involved, begins with a text that warns that ‘...the women who we are going to see next have suffered ill-treatment, given that the viewer expects assaulted women to appear on screen, but what is seen next? They are women in normal and happy situations’.

No doubt money well spent, as bruised women (15,700 cases of victims of gender violence in Andalucía in the first six months of 2019) give us a brave smile.

The same women –indeed the same photos (!)- are shown in an article here, selling false teeth and feminine products (where a fulsome smile is understandably de rigueur in this type of commercial). 
El Español says that - hold on a minute! - the PSOE in Aragón once used a similar sweetly smiling woman to denounce the mistreatment of the aged – Huh, so that’s orl right then!

The right-wing has often shown a peculiar standard towards women’s rights, and we see how the various ‘manada’ rape cases are treated in Spain, with more interest often displayed in the nationality of the perpetrators than the condition of the victim: a bit like the domestic versus foreign terrorist question enjoyed in a number of western countries.

Meanwhile, back in Andalucía, La Mirada, the only radio program on Canal Sur Radio to deal with equality, has been cancelled for the next season (September).