Meeting to raise awareness about sexual exploitation
The Daniela Oblatas programme is organising a meeting on 22nd, 23rd, and 24th September to highlight the issue of sexual exploitation.
The Casa de Colón will host awareness days against sexual exploitation and trafficking of women, titled ‘Prostitution in Culture’, on 22nd and 23rd September at 16:30. This initiative is part of the Daniela programme, run by the Oblat congregation in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
In recognition of the International Day against Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation on 23rd September, these sessions aim to shed light on this reality that predominantly affects women and girls.
Focusing on gender inequality
The event will spotlight a reality rooted in gender inequality, where cultural norms have normalised and justified prostitution as a social practice.
The workshops will explore how various cultural expressions—such as film, photography, literature, media, music, and video games—reproduce the so-called ideology of prostitution. This ideology legitimises exploitation and contributes to the invisibility of violence against women.
The goal is to raise awareness of this critical perspective and to foster understanding of the mechanisms that enable sexual exploitation in our society.
Encouraging collective reflection
The intention is to promote a collective and inclusive reflection that invites people of diverse ages and interests to question and reconsider the cultural messages they consume. Furthermore, artistic actions and reflections will be proposed as awareness-raising tools capable of reaching a broad audience.
The conferences will be in person and open to the public until capacity is reached, with no prior registration required. Additionally, those unable to attend in person will have the opportunity to follow the event free of charge via the website: www.jornadastratadaniela.com.
Collaborating Institutions
Collaborating institutions include the Casa de Colón, the National Pact against Gender Violence of the Spanish Government, the Canarian Institute of Equality, the Department of Equality, and the Diversity area of the Ayuntamiento de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Programme Schedule
The inauguration will take place on Monday, 22nd September, at the Casa de Colón, with journalist Luisa del Rosario opening the programme at 17:00 with her talk “From Work to Incident: The Press-Washing of the Prostitution System.” Following this, feminist and co-education specialist Laura Viñuela will discuss “Screwed and Radiant: The Romanticisation of Prostitution in Urban Music”, reflecting on how certain musical discourses normalise sexual exploitation. The day will conclude with a musical performance by Cristina Molina Petit, who will present a selection of boleros.
On Tuesday, 23rd September, also at 17:00 in the Casa de Colón, art historian and equality agent Sonia Luis Hernández will present “A Historical Approach to the Representation of the Prostitution System in Painting,” based on her academic research. Subsequently, feminist literary critic Josune Muñoz, director of the SKOLASTIKA project, will provide a lecture titled “I’ll Tell You: They Speak,” analysing the female voices in literature and comics. The day will be rounded off by a monologue “The Laundry” from Carmen Algora Sánchez, bringing the debate to critical humour.
On Wednesday, 24th September, the programme moves to the Violeta Space in the ULPGC Library, where Josune Muñoz will lead a feminist-critical literary workshop at 17:00, followed by the inauguration of the photographic exhibition “Crossed Views,” a visual proposal that invites reflection on the multiple perspectives surrounding the prostitution system. Furthermore, during the workshops, Jaume Perelló Alorda, curator of the ‘Crossed View’ exhibition as part of the sensitivity programme of Casal Petit-Oblates in Mallorca, will conduct group visits for students to the IES Alonso Quesada and IES Guanarteme exhibitions, showcasing 54 images taken by residents of Palma de Mallorca, highlighting the encounters of women within the prostitution system and the community observing them from outside.
