HR4RS stamp
Jaime Riveiro Fernandez
As a result of the collaboration between the Rey Juan Carlos University and the Victims of Terrorism Foundation, the congress entitled "Women victims of terrorism and women against terrorism: History, Memory, Work and Legacy" was held on November 18 through of the "Teams" platform to study this situation and remember the importance of the work carried out by women in the past today.
The main objective of the session was to “analyze the role that women victims of terrorism, women family victims and women activists against terrorism and in defense and vindication of the rights of victims in society have played and are playing. Present-day Spain, since ETA began its criminal action in 1959 until today”, explains José Luis Rodríguez Jiménez, professor of Contemporary History at the URJC and one of the directors of the symposium.
Victims' associations play a major role
To do this, specialists in the field have met, but from different fields, such as journalism or political science, among others. In addition, it has been possible to count on the presence of real victims of terrorism, who have shared their experiences as victims, but also as promoters of victims' associations, key organizations in Spain in the fight against terrorism.
“These associations have played an important role in the recent history of Spain, ahead of the political class and society in general. Having said this, the fundamental thing is that the victims were marginalized, received scant attention by the democratic governments as a whole and, apart from getting justice based on their situation, they are the object of knowledge of the matter that deals with the history of terrorism " Rodriguez clarifies. So, it seeks to pay more attention to the injured than to the murderers, finding out why these people were murdered.
The event has been publicized both in the URJC and in other universities and web pages of associations and study centers, reaching many interested parties. “We are satisfied with the reception. We have had the assistance, and participation, of students from the degrees of History and Journalism and Audiovisual Communication of the URJC, and also from our Master's Degree in Analysis and Prevention of Terrorism”, explains Rodríguez.
The celebration of the congress in times of pandemic
Due to the current health situation, the congress has been held remotely through "Teams"; however, the directors of the event and the rest of the support staff were installed in person in the Hall of Degrees of Departmental I of the Faculty of Communication Sciences of the Fuenlabrada Campus. “Some speakers, as is the case of the professor of Contemporary History at the UNED, Juan Avilés, came to the Hall to talk to us about Terrorism in Spain. Likewise, María Concepción Martín López, Defender of the Collective of Victims of Terrorism, spoke to us about Real memory, manipulation of the truth and deliberate forgetting, and Raquel Alonso de Francisco, president of the Association Against Extremist Radicalism and Indirect Victims, about Women as victims of the phenomenon of radicalization”, indicates Rodríguez. So, despite the pandemic, it has been possible to count on the participation of experts on the subject from both inside and outside the university sphere, as is the case of Ángeles Escrivá, editor-in-chief of the newspaper “El mundo”. Also, the rector of the University, Javier Ramos, was invited to open the Congress and accompanied the organizers in person.
The conference stems from calls for collaboration grants offered annually by the Victims of Terrorism Foundation. “Three professors presented a project that included the preparation of an archive with oral sources, an investigation that would lead to articles for specialized magazines and a congress with the presence of social scientists and victims of terrorism, whose papers would be published in book format” Rodriguez declares. But, once again due to the pandemic, only the congress could take place.
It is the first time that a symposium on this very specific topic has taken place. “We believe that it is worth going back to the subject, with the incorporation of other speakers, of other experiences. Now we need financial help to publish the papers. We wait for a call…”, concludes Rodríguez.