A total of 90 women and children victims of gender violence living in shelters in Almeria will enjoy this summer holidays free of male violence thanks to the Vacacionantes programme of the Andalusian Women’s Institute. This service, which has been running since 1999, offers a fun, normalised and violence-free summer holiday to people in shelters through activities both inside and outside the shelters. More than 65,000 people throughout Andalusia have benefited from this resource since it was launched. This edition runs from 1 July to 31 August and 53 women victims of gender violence and 37 minors accompanying them are expected to participate in the province of Almeria, a slightly lower figure than in 2021 when there were 57 women and 36 minors.
In Andalusia, 774 people will participate, 419 women and 355 children, which is 0.9% more than the previous year. Vacacionantes, which is implemented during the summer periods of Christmas, Easter and summer, is based on education in values in order to achieve in the people it welcomes a correct expression of emotions, conflict resolution, respect for diversity, and reinforcement of self-esteem, as well as autonomy. This programme is especially important for the children who have been welcomed, as it is a space for them to create, have fun, learn, share and get to know their new city. As a transversal axis, the promotion of reading is one of the priority objectives of the socio-educational intervention with the host population.
The programme advisor of the Andalusian Women’s Institute in Almeria, María Montagut, stressed that “socio-educational intervention with the people who have been taken in is vital to promote their transformation into agents of change, converting their role as victims into that of active, empowered citizens, protagonists of their own lives and with the capacity to generate social change”. In this line, she pointed out that “the work carried out in the shelters, developed by a multidisciplinary team of highly qualified professionals, seeks the empowerment of the women assisted, promoting the search for their autonomy and the restoration of their rights violated by acts of violence against their physical and emotional integrity. One of the main objectives of care is to help them return to their daily lives, both educationally, socially and emotionally, in the shortest possible time”.
Andalusia’s reception resources
The network has 34 shelters offering approximately 500 places, which, due to their location, ensure that no woman at risk in Andalusia is more than 200 kilometres away from a shelter.
