On the eve of International Women's Day, which is celebrated this Sunday, March 8, the week has been marked by cases of harassment directed against women in public spaces. Among them are political analyst Sarah Santaolalla and the spokesperson for Más Madrid in the capital's City Council, Rita Maestre, who have reported attacks by ultra agitators both in the digital space and on the street. In this context of growing concern over hate speech, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, will inaugurate the first Summit against Hate that will bring together experts and affected individuals.
The event, held next Wednesday, March 11, is organized by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, and present will be political analyst Sarah Santaolalla, actress Abril Zamora and social worker Mohamed El Harrak, who will share their experience on this worrying issue that is increasingly growing on social media and in which harassers often remain unpunished.
At the conference, different roundtables will be held where debates will focus on topics such as the protection of fundamental rights, the regulation of online content, and the promotion of more inclusive societies, with the aim of fostering international cooperation – with the intervention of the High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, Miguel Ángel Moratinos- and developing tools that help curb the dissemination of messages that promote discrimination or violence.
One of the most relevant aspects of the talk is to analyze how the hate messages spread on social media can provoke a process of dehumanization towards the person who receives them. When insults, attacks or comments that ridicule or in which they are reduced to stereotypes are used, that person ceases to be perceived as an individual with dignity and rights, and comes to be treated as a target that can be attacked without consequences. This phenomenon will be named ‘In the crosshairs of hate’ and will be attended by the Minister of Youth and Childhood, Sira Rego, and the Minister of Equality, Ana Redondo.
The Minister of Inclusion, Elma Saiz, in her announcement about the Summit against Hate, pointed out: "A hate message is not just words on a social network. Almost half of hate messages seek to completely dehumanize the person on the other side of the screen. 29% directly incites violence, and we have already seen how that can be transferred to the streets. But we are not defenseless, we do not have to accept that as the new normal".
