Gender perspective | Feminism and sexual and gender diversity | Barcelona City Council

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The main strategy pursued by the Barcelona City Councillor’s Office for Feminism and LGBTI Affairs is to incorporate the gender perspective in every area of politics and society so as to combat the more structural aspects of gender inequality and sexism and overcome the situations of discrimination that still persist in a patriarchal society such as ours.

We understand sexism to be systems that define people according to their sex, put them in a hierarchy and maintain rules of behaviour that correspond to that division, by allocating different capacities, values, standards and roles to men and women. Such systems also maintain that the man/woman binomial is the only existing one, thereby obscuring and discriminating against people who do not fit into those categories.

So, for the purpose of promoting a necessary gender fairness, the initiatives and policies of the Councillor’s Office are based on the incorporation of the gender perspective in all areas (culture, economy, sport, health care, employment, participation, international relations, etc) by applying gender mainstreaming. The City Council has a specific gender-mainstreaming department, whose principal aim is to ensure that gender equality is the central goal of the entire City Council, municipal areas and districts alike, in all its fields of action.

Main lines of action:

• We offer specific prevention and assistance services for women against gender violence.
• We offer specific services for reporting cases of LGBTI-phobia to the police and supporting victims.
• We offer legal, psychological and community support tools to women and LGBTI people.
• We offer resources and services to men who wish to rethink their masculinity or who are violent.
• We offer legal, social and employment assistance services to sex workers.
• We encourage the political and social participation of women and LGBTI people.
• We promote the democratisation of care work to ensure everyone can be cared for with quality and that carers’ rights are respected.
• We work with all the city’s players (shops; the night-time leisure business world; neighbourhood and district festival organisers; sports, leisure and education promoters, etc.) to prevent sexual and sexist harassment and assaults.
• We are incorporating the feminist and gender equity approach in all the City Council’s areas and policies.
• We promote awareness-raising campaigns against gender violence and also programmes for promoting gender equality in schools.
• We arrange events and give awards that highlight the fight for gender equality.

All these action lines are part of the city government's plans, protocols and measures which you can consult here.

Strategic lines

Learn about the strategic lines of the Barcelona City Councillor’s Office for Feminism and LGBTI Affairs.

Assistance

Barcelona City Council offers several information, advice and assistance services to women and men, in cases of gender violence and LGBTI-phobia or of interest regarding gender issues, all of which are confidential and free.
Prevention

Barcelona City Council has gender-violence and sexism prevention services and programmes aimed at all citizens, to bring about a change in the social model towards gender justice.
Mainstreaming

Barcelona City Council incorporates the gender perspective in all areas of politics and society, by guaranteeing that respect for sexual and gender diversity is a central goal of the entire City Council, so as to improve living conditions for citizens in every aspect of everyday life.
Networking

Barcelona City Council considers that citizen participation and inter-institutional coordination are key to eliminating the more structural aspects of gender inequality and sexism: Women's Councils and the LGBTI Council, the School Network for Equality and Diversity, the Citizen Agreement for a Barcelona free of violence towards women, agreements with entities, participation from women’s and LGBTI groups, collaboration with social services and police forces.