Fundación Secretariado Gitano

Human rights organisations applaud the creation in Spain of the sub-commission for the development of a State Pact against Hate Speech [editar]

• Equal treatment
• National level

The state organisations that work for the defence of groups in situations of vulnerability celebrate the approval of the creation of the sub-commission for the development of a State Pact against Hate Speech towards vulnerable groups this Thursday in the Equality Commission of the Congress. The sub-commission was approved by 34 votes in favour and three against, all the parliamentary groups in favour except Vox. Organisations have applauded the approval, considering it an example of political consensus against hate.

The State Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Trans, Bisexuals, Intersexuals and more (FELGTBI+); CERMI; ONCE Foundation; CESIDA; the Youth Council of Spain; Red Acoge; Cear; Hogar Sí; Fundación Secretariado Roma; CCOO; UGT (main unions in Spain); Chrysalis; Fundación Triángulo and Oxfam Intermón are the members of the Social Pact against Hate Speech against groups in situations of vulnerability and the promoters of this initiative. Thus, they applaud this first step, approved after the commemoration of the International Day for Countering Hate Speech (18 June) and ask all parties to listen to the demands of organised civil society and to take up the proposals of the base document with which they have promoted the pact.

One of the objectives of the Pact is to reinforce social and political consensus in defence of groups in vulnerable situations and to reject hate speech that targets these groups, so that these attacks are neither acceptable nor profitable, either socially or politically. It also aims to promote state action to protect vulnerable groups, victims of hate speech, and to inform these victims of their rights and the tools they have to exercise and defend them.

The organisations behind the Pact demand a social and political response to verbal violence against vulnerable groups. Thus, they request that the pact include protection measures in the workplace; statistical improvements and measurement of hate speech and its effects; training and awareness-raising for legal operators, security forces, education officials and general administration staff; control of the application of legal tools to protect vulnerable groups; evaluation and monitoring of the pact and adequate coordination of action to avoid any setbacks in the human rights of vulnerable groups.

Social Pact against hate speech towards vulnerable groups

In 2023, more than a dozen civil society organisations and the most representative trade unions in Spain signed a consensus text defining a Social Pact against hate speech in the face of the proliferation of this type of messages in the public sphere. The institutional work to convert it into a State Pact began in January 2024 and this Thursday, 20 June, the Equality Commission voted to create a subcommittee to elevate it to a State Pact. 

The organisations behind this initiative denounce the fact that the hate speeches against groups in situations of vulnerability are the origin of the violence that these groups suffer on the streets.

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