The Dénia Council of Women has decided to focus its tribute to International Women's Day on an essential but invisible group: women who work as cleaners. They are the ones who ensure that houses, offices, entrances, elevators and bars are in optimal conditions so that society can continue with its daily life. Despite their indispensable contribution, many of them work alone and without recognition.
The Councillor for Equality and Diversity of Dénia, Javier Scotto, has highlighted the situation of these women throughout history: "White-collar women, who left rural areas especially after the Second Republic, went to the cities to serve, to remain locked up in another domestic, servile environment, if not, to do kitchen work, care for children and the elderly, and everything else that the house required."
Scotto stressed that no woman chooses this job for pleasure, but out of necessity: “Sometimes they become the sole source of income for the family unit.” She also denounced the precarious working conditions that many of them face: “They do not stop doing their work, at any time and day, many without regularization or registration with Social Security. In most cases we do not know their name, their situation and their own story. A story not free of discrimination, based on an anachronistic servility and on a professionalism and dedication that is not recognized.”
The tribute ceremony will be held on Friday, March 7th at the Dénia Social CenterDuring the event, special recognition will be given to twelve women who have worked and are working in cleaning at Dénia Town Hall, representing the hundreds of women workers in the sector in the town.
«That is why, on Women's Day, we recognise and pay tribute to the group of cleaners, our grandmothers, mothers, daughters, sisters and neighbours who mop, sweep, change sheets, iron, dust and clean windows, empty bins and wastepaper baskets, and in doing so, they support the family economy with their hands, effort, anonymity and a lot of generosity, so that the rest of us can enjoy our time and space with order and cleanliness,» concludes Scotto.
This tribute will be the central event of a programme of activities organised by the Department of Equality and Diversity, which will be presented in the coming days.
These politicians have a lot to learn from these women.