English

The Majoress of Gijón, Paz Fernández Felgueroso and the Councilor for Justice and Equality, María José Ramos, were given this award by the Ministry of Helath, Social Policies and Equality due to their contribution to the creation of this municipal facility. Other people and entities were also given an award, such as the newspaper Público; the Asociation of Women Antimutilation (AMAM); the Asociation for the Prevention, Rehabilitation and Attention to Prostitutes (APRAM); the organization Save the Children; José Ángel Lozoya, a member of the Forum of Men for Equality; Lydia Cacho Ribeiro, a journalist and writer from Mexico; and Jorge Vicente Sánchez Blanco, who involved himself to defend Aroa López from a brutal attack. This centre was inaugurated on the 25th of March 2007 and it is the first one of this characteristics. Since then, 270 women and 296 children have used this facility. This centre operates through a protocol which includes different levels or stages of intervention, that is, emergency attention, back-up procedures, accomodation and recovery. This centre also received the acknowledgement and a golden medal by the Red Cross organization. During its short life this centre has already received several acknowledgements such as the Solidarity Award, which was given by the Federation of Neighbours Associations of Gijón and the award "Changing the World", given by the Federation of Progressive Women in Madrid. After that, other awards came, such as the "Citizens", award which is given by Associaiton of Radio & Digital Television Entities (AERTEDI) and the award ONCE to Solidarity in Asturias in 2007.