What María Soraya spoke about.

14 Mar

2023

ES Speech

Deterioration of democracy in Israel and consequences on the occupied territories (debate)

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Mr President, the Government of Israel, in which far-right, ultra-nationalist and ultra-religious parties participate, was advancing, by statements of some of its leaders – who are now ministers – an anti-liberal, pro-annexation, racist and homophobic government. Unfortunately, what is happening is proof of the former. Judicial reform is really an undemocratic coup d'état. We are here, debating, b…

14 Feb

2023

ES Speech

The EU priorities for the 67th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, last 11 February we celebrated the Day of Women and Girls in Science and, unfortunately, there was not much to celebrate, because according to UNESCO, only 35% of students in STEM careers are women. We also need to see that access to technology in developing countries barely reaches 30% of women users and, in least developed countries, only 20% of women have acc…

14 Feb

2023

ES Speech

Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence: EU accession (continuation of debate)

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Madam President, we have been waiting six years for the Council to ratify the Istanbul Convention so that the European Union can do so as part of it. Six years is undoubtedly too many years, but when fifty women are murdered every week in the European Union, it is a real shame. It's unacceptable. First, the Council told us that there were legal problems, that unanimity was needed, allowing during …

17 Jan

2023

ES Speech

EU response to the protests and executions in Iran (debate)

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Madam President, we are horrified at the executions, murders, by the Iranian regime of young demonstrators, the pain of their families, the anguish of those 26 demonstrators awaiting their death sentence. But we know that the death penalty is not a new situation in Iran. Shortly before the protests, this country was the first country in the world to execute women. But that is why we cannot silentl…

23 Nov

2022

ES Speech

The Human rights situation in Afghanistan especially the deterioration of women´s rights and attacks against educational institutions

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Mr. President, in Afghanistan, more than a year after the Taliban took power, there is no gender discrimination, there is a real gender: a system of systematic segregation designed to erase women and girls from public space. This is a demand from women human rights defenders in Afghanistan, which we echo today in this Parliament, which is going to be the first institution in the international comm…

23 Nov

2022

ES Speech

A post-2020 Global biodiversity framework and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity COP15 (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, following the disappointing COP27 summit, the focus is now on this COP15. Let's hope we do a little better. I think we can find ourselves in a historic moment if we turn this summit into the 'Paris' for nature. And the reason is clear. The biodiversity crisis is a planetary emergency. And none of the goals of the Paris Summit, on global warming, can be achieved if we ar…

23 Nov

2022

ES Speech

Eliminating violence against Women (debate)

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Madam President, we are here again, on 25 November, to commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. We have to point out that, one more year, the victims have increased. And those who deny the existence of gender-based violence also increase. It must now be said that gender-based violence exists because it is based on causes of structural discrimination against …

22 Nov

2022

ES Speech

EU response to the increasing crackdown on protests in Iran (debate)

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Madam President, Iranian women deserve more. And I also think they expected more from us. They deserve more because they have had the courage to break the silence in the face of a regime that brutally uses the death penalty. Before these demonstrations, Iran was already the country with the highest number of executions of women in a sexist system where legal security for women does not exist. They…

22 Nov

2022

ES Speech

Gender balance among non-executive directors of companies listed on stock exchanges (debate)

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Madam President, indeed, ten years has been blocked by this directive and during these ten years, in the boards of directors of listed companies, seven out of ten board members have been men and less than one in ten of the large companies in the European Union has had a president or executive director. Therefore, this Directive was absolutely necessary and urgent to seek a balance in these boards …

19 Oct

2022

ES Speech

Fighting sexualised violence - The importance of the Istanbul Convention and a comprehensive proposal for a directive against gender-based violence (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, it is estimated that 50 women are murdered victims of gender-based violence every week in the European Union. One every six hours. In Spain, in my country, thirty-four women victims of gender-based violence have been murdered so far. This is the ultimate expression of violence against women, the tip of an iceberg that hides abuse, sexual assault, harassment, cybervio…

18 Oct

2022

ES Speech

Mental health (debate)

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–Mr President, we in the Renew Group welcome this important debate. Indeed, Commissioner, the pandemic put this mental health problem on the table, but it is also true that it has only made it worse. Between 2020 and 2021, when it comes to mental health in people aged 15-24, all problems have doubled and 9 million adolescents aged 10-19 have been affected by mental health problems, making suicide …

5 Oct

2022

ES Speech

The recent humanitarian and human rights situation in Tigray, Ethiopia, notably that of children

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Mr President, this Parliament was in Ethiopia two weeks ago and we were indeed able to see the terrible situation that the war in the north has caused in this country. Not only Tigré, but Afar, Amhara have a situation where more than 20 million people need humanitarian aid, aid that does not arrive because it has been used as a weapon of war. Also violence against women. Yes, but let me tell you t…

4 Oct

2022

ES Speech

The death of Mahsa Amini and the repression of women's rights protesters in Iran (debate)

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Mr. President, Mahsa Jina Amini was beaten in detention, beaten during her transfer, beaten to death in police premises. Unfortunately, his murder is not something accidental or exceptional. It is part of a State policy directed against women's rights. Therefore, today Amini is in the courage and courage of thousands of women who have taken to the streets to rise up against a regime that for forty…

4 Oct

2022

ES Speech

Key objectives for the CITES CoP19 meeting in Panama (debate)

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Madam President, this is indeed an important and necessary resolution. It has already been said: we must bear in mind that the business of illegal wildlife trafficking, behind drug trafficking, human trafficking and the trafficking and counterfeiting of products and coins, is the fourth largest illegal trade in the world and generates more than EUR 23 billion. It is also a devastating illegal trad…

13 Sep

2022

ES Speech

Consequences of drought, fire, and other extreme weather phenomena: increasing EU's efforts to fight climate change (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, at the last plenary session in Strasbourg we were here, after the first fire in my country, in the Sierra de la Culebra, in Castile and Leon, with more than 24 000 hectares burned and where the extinction operations were not fully operational, since, if they had been, they would have clearly mitigated the economic, social and environmental impacts. We were here discussi…

7 Jul

2022

ES Speech

Recent heat wave and drought in the EU (debate)

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Mr President, in the first heat wave we experienced between 11 and 19 June, we suffered in my region, in Zamora, in the Sierra de la Culebra, one of the most devastating fires in Spain. More than 24,000 hectares burned. The entire economic structure of this destroyed area. In the 1990s we said that the great fires were those that ravaged more than 500 hectares; Today, more than 24,000. We can fore…

6 Jul

2022

ES Speech

The situation of indigenous and environmental defenders in Brazil, including the killing of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira

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Madam President, we strongly condemn the brutal murder of Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips and demand from the Brazilian authorities an independent, thorough and impartial investigation to clarify these crimes. We deeply regret that these killings are not isolated cases. Brazil is the fourth most dangerous country in the world for environmental defenders. In recent years, these attacks and this viol…

5 Jul

2022

ES Speech

Addressing food security in developing countries (debate)

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Mr President, this is the first report of this legislature on food safety. I would like to thank the rapporteur for her initiative. Food insecurity before the war in Ukraine affected in all its forms more than 800 million people in the world. Before the war in Ukraine there were 17 million people in Ethiopia, 16 million people in Yemen, 22 million people in Afghanistan... And war has struck as a c…

4 Jul

2022

ES Speech

US Supreme Court decision to overturn abortion rights in the United States and the need to safeguard abortion rights and Women’s health in the EU (debate)

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Madam President, a month ago we were here talking about a leak of a sentence. The worst expectation has been fulfilled, the worst we expected of it. And is that the worst expectations are hovering over the fundamental right to abortion. Not only in the United States, but also here, in Europe, in all parts of the world. That is why today is the time to leave behind convictions and take active steps…

8 Jun

2022

ES Speech

Global threats to abortion rights: the possible overturn of abortion rights in the US by the Supreme Court (debate)

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Madam President, thank you very much for how you are leading this very important debate. This resolution talks about threats, and we have heard a lot about the title, but it is indeed the threat that looms over sexual and reproductive rights in many places in the world, in places where dictatorships are advancing and, also, in advanced democracies such as the United States, where a Supreme Court d…

7 Jun

2022

ES Speech

Binding annual greenhouse gas emission reductions by Member States (Effort Sharing Regulation) - Land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) - CO2 emission standards for cars and vans (joint debate – Fit for 55 (part 2))

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Mr President, Commissioner, contrary to what we have heard here, I believe that this Fit for 55 package is the result of political responsibility with our international commitments, it is the result of political courage because the international context has not caused us to delay it, and I also believe that it is effective because it seeks actions and objectives hand in hand with technology and sc…

19 May

2022

ES Speech

The fight against impunity for war crimes in Ukraine (debate)

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Mr. President, who is ultimately responsible for this war, for so much suffering? For he who, controlling the political or military action of a State, plans, decides and orders a military invasion against another sovereign State: Article 8a of the Rome Statute. There is no doubt that Putin and the Kremlin's criminal leadership are responsible for this crime of aggression. We have an obligation not…

5 May

2022

ES Speech

The impact of the war against Ukraine on women (debate)

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Mr. President, once again, war has turned the body of women into a battlefield. "We will rape you until you feel no desire for any other man", "until you feel no desire to give birth to new Ukrainians" are some of the phrases that the Ombudsman of Ukraine has pointed out as recurrent statements of the victims: mothers who have been raped in front of their daughters who have been raped in front of …

4 May

2022

ES Speech

Reports of continued organ harvesting in China

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Madam President, unfortunately, since China announced in 2015 that it would end a legal practice of organ harvesting from political prisoners, we know and have evidence and indications that this heinous and intolerable violation of the right to life and human rights continues to exist. We also need to be aware that, in order to end impunity in China, we need to end this crime that involves demand …

2 May

2022

ES Speech

Persecution of minorities on the grounds of belief or religion (short presentation)

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Mr President, we have spoken in this Parliament about the persecution of religious minorities in many human rights reports. Today we do so in a specific report that addresses the persecution of all minorities on the grounds of belief or religion, but also the persecution suffered by those who have none. We wanted in this report not to make a hierarchy of suffering and also to denounce the instrume…