Opciónate participated in the conference ‘Ampliando miradas’, organised by the Department of Equality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana.

The organisation Opciónate has participated in the educational conference ‘Ampliando miradas’ on gender-based cyber-violence and women’s borderline situations in the video games sector. This event took place at the Maspalomas Cultural Centre in San Bartolomé de Tirajana, in the south of Gran Canaria, and was addressed to more than 300 people, including students and adults in training of different ages.

Rocío López, a psychologist specialising in gender and development and head of Opciónate Projects, described some basic concepts of gender-based cyber-violence in the framework of this conference organised by the Department of Equality of the San Bartolomé de Tirajana Town Council, directed by Elena Álamo Vega, with funding from the Government Delegation against Gender Violence through the actions of the State Pact against Gender Violence.

Specifically, the event was attended by high school and fourth year ESO students from Amurga, El Tablero, Faro, Arenas Sur and Arenas Almas high schools, as well as students from the Adult Education Centre (CEPA) of San Fernando de Maspalomas and from the three training projects in alternation with employment (PFAES) that are being developed in the El Tablero Training Centre.

Opciónate, who coordinates the Servicio Insular de Prevención y Atención a las Ciberviolencias Machistas (SIPACM), funded by the Department of Social Policy, Accessibility, Equality and Diversity of the Cabildo, took advantage of the meeting on 30 November to reiterate that gender-based cyber-violence is a form of aggression and violence in the digital world against women, adolescents and girls simply because they are women. Furthermore, she stressed that it is a term under construction that every day includes new manifestations or typologies, favoured by the anonymity and communicative depersonalisation of the Internet, its rapid distribution and its wide reach.

The second talk was given by Nira Santana, researcher and expert consultant in art, gender and video games, who introduced the students to the situation of women in the video games sector from different perspectives: from the performance of women as professionals in the video games industry to the harassment they suffer for gender reasons in online multiplayer games, as well as the sexist and stereotypical representations of women in the visual and narrative content of video games themselves.

In addition, the programme of activities in San Bartolomé de Tirajana on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women included a workshop on self-care through nutrition and emotional health given by nutritionist Claudia Rodríguez Hernández and psychologist Naira León Acosta at the Centre for Equality in San Fernando de Maspalomas.