Equality and respect in the San Fermin fiesta

A campaign open to local councils

Pamplona City Council, in collaboration with the Government of Navarre"s Navarrese Institute for Equality, is carrying out an awareness campaign during the San Fermin fiesta to promote equal treatment and equal opportunities during the local fiestas held in Navarre over the summer. Other local councils in Navarre can join the initiative when their fiestas in honour of their patron saints are on.

The campaign, which will be carried out in Spanish and Basque, ‘And during fiestas… What? Councils for equality’ involves two key messages for fiestas:

• That of shared responsibility regarding housework and looking after the family as a condition for the enjoyment of fiestas by both men and women alike.
• And that of the prevention of sexual harassment and assault, encouraging behaviour based on respect and recognition that a ‘no’ must be respected even if it is fiesta time.

Equality and respect in comic form

The image consists of cartoon pictures reflecting different situations derived from the messages. These pictures seek cheerful, agile expression of the message easily understood by the different age groups they are aimed at.The cartoon which illustrates the campaign is by Leire Urbeltz and shows a human figure (half-man, half-woman) performing several of the jobs which have to be done in fiestas. A message which tries to transmit the idea of the great many things which have to be done and tasks involved in fiestas. The image is captioned with the words "We share work, care and leisure" and "Live the fiesta with respect. A No is still a no", referring to sexual abuse.

The aims of the campaign are:

The aims of this campaign, carried out in conjunction with Navarrese councils, centre of encouraging reflection on the situations of inequality which tend to accompany festive periods, in order to raise awareness and lead to changes which may have a positive effect on women"s lives.

More specifically, the idea is to focus on matters such as safety, which must exist in areas used by men and women, and which is not always guaranteed in festive environments where some places are less safe for women; and risk situations for young men and women, given that fiestas, with the greater alcohol consumption they bring, sometimes lead to sexual abuse and assault due to the reigning confusion and an attitude of "anything goes". These two matters are joined by that of the unfair share-out of household chores. If there are clear inequalities in this regard in day-to-day life, then these differences only grow when fiestas are on, given that the daily housework (special meals, guests, washing the clothes worn in fiestas, etc.) is performed by women, fiestas being considered more a time for men, who have culturally enjoyed areas and activities which distance them from work and the home.

Risk prevention

In addition to this campaign, another measure which aims to prevent the risks faced by women during fiestas and, more specifically, the San Fermin fiesta will consist of leaving cards bearing the 112 and 092 emergency telephone numbers which women can ring if they find themselves at risk at hotels, campsites, coach and railway stations, the airport, left luggage office and other busy areas.