Women's groups call for female official to resign over 'misogynistic' stories
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Your support makes all the difference.One of Spain's top civil servants responsible for women's affairs and her boss in the Labour Ministry are facing calls to step down after a publishing firm she co-founded released a book by a self-confessed misogynist that allegedly glorifies rape and child sex abuse.
Groups representing women in several regions called for the resignation of Miriam Tey, whose El Cobre imprint brought out a collection of short stories by the author, scriptwriter and editor Hernan Migoya, entitled Todas Putas - "All Whores".
In an interview with the Barcelona newspaper La Vanguardia, Migoya, 32, said he was "a misogynist and proud of it," and conceded that the collection was "an apology for rape, from the point of view of the main character".
One tale many found offensive was "Porno del Bueno", ("Good Porn"), which featured a gloating, first-hand account of paedophile sex.
A director for women's affairs in Extremadura, Josefa Caraballo, said the book's publication was "a setback in the fight for equality and women's rights," and called on Ms Tey and the Labour Minister, Eduardo Zaplana, to step down. "They should both resign because it's an attack on the dignity of women," she said, adding that not having done so "reveals a lack of sensitivity".
Although Ms Tey swiftly ordered the book's withdrawal, calls for her resignation were backed by women's groups from La Mancha, Asturias and Andalusia, as well as the Balearic and Canary Islands. The Catalan politician Merce Pigem said Ms Tey's tenure at the women's affairs department was "incompatible" with a policy of "zero tolerance on gender violence".
Ms Tey, who plans to stay in her post until Sunday's local elections, said she considered the book to be a denunciation of rape in the rapist's own words. "It's a work of fiction; the author doesn't necessarily agree with what his protagonist says and does.
"It's been manipulated and political, social and cultural registers have become mixed up and confused. I have also become a victim."
The Spanish Federation of Associations to Aid Rape Victims stated that there are "certain themes that can't be ironised, or made humorous". "Against some opinions, including those of the publisher, we maintain that literature is not innocent in itself, above all if it can gravely upset thousands of women and children who have suffered sexual assaults, and for whom recalling the act is intolerable."
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