“This is not a question of racism; it is a question of defending our society”—Human Rights Specialist Elena Ramallo

Elena Ramallo, a legal scholar and expert on gender-based violence, has been nominated for the Princess of Asturias Award for her work in human rights. She has advised governments across Europe and Latin America. In a recent television appearance with Spanish philologist Sonia Sierra, she backed new legislation to regulate the Islamic veil, framing it as a step toward gender equality—a stance that quickly sparked national debate. We spoke with Ramallo about feminism, Islam, the challenges facing women in Spain, and the changes she believes are needed.

You call yourself a feminist, but you do not seem to be very happy with what left-wing politicians call “the most feminist country in the world.”

Feminism is not what these politicians say it is. Feminism is the defense of equal rights and opportunities for men and women, it has nothing to do with ideas like women having penises, or being just ‘menstruating beings,’ or the claim that absolutely everything falls under the category of feminism. 

What these so-called ‘feminists’ have done is tear down the progress toward equality that women have worked hard to build over many years. Many women have fought for equality and have reached the top through their own efforts, but these ‘feminists’ were given their positions through quotas, not merit. Spain is not the most feminist country if we still need to talk about veils and women who are invisible because they are covered from head to toe. Strangely, many people who claim to support women’s rights think that’s perfectly fine.

Some strains of feminism today seem to treat all cases of alleged violence or abuse the same way—whether they’re well-documented or full of inconsistencies. What are your thoughts on that? 

All my life, I have defended human rights, especially in the case of women and minors, and I have been a victim of macho violence, so I feel absolute contempt for this feminism, because it does terrible damage to real cases, which is enormously irresponsible. 

What’s more, we have people in the media who exploit this mindset, knowing that this form of feminism demands blind belief in every accusation, regardless of the facts. Apart from the presumption of innocence, we all have fathers, sons, brothers, husbands, and friends, and we do not want them to face an unjust situation. 

When someone commits a crime, the full weight of the law must fall on them, but you cannot skip the presumption of innocence. For justice to work, it must be based on rigor and absolutely proven facts, not on emotion or media pressure.

In these situations, there’s often a strong ideological component that seems rooted in a rejection or even hatred of Western culture, and a dose of well-meaning naivety. We saw it in Afghanistan, with claims that the Taliban had changed, and more recently in Syria. Do you think this kind of naïve idealism is one reason why many people fail to grasp what’s really happening?

I don’t think it’s naïve idealism. I think it is political agendas that are willing to sacrifice our way of life. You mentioned countries where there is no democracy because they have Sharia law, and where women are treated as inferior—beaten and killed as if they were not human beings. From a human rights perspective, that means the complete erasure of dignity, freedom, and rights for women. 

But this is already happening in our country, where women have to cover themselves and cannot enter men’s areas. The worst thing is that this is allowed under the umbrella of diversity and multiculturalism. We cannot tolerate a clear attempt to destroy our society and our way of life. 

That is why I am surprised that they are trying to present Islam as a European religion. This is wrong. Our essence is humanist and Christian, and it is precisely that heritage which has allowed us to have rights and to live in freedom and democracy. That is why we must speak out, because it is not just a problem of Islam, it is a problem of a Europe that, if it continues like this, will cease to be the Europe that we know.

Multiculturalism has failed in Europe, as we have seen in countries like Sweden, Great Britain, and France. Do you think the same outcome is likely in Spain?

I believe that in Spain we still have time to reverse this situation, although we need a political will that currently does not exist. Neither the center-right Popular Party nor the governing Socialist Party wanted to listen to the proposals that we made to address this problem. The only party that listened to us was VOX. But this should not be a matter of party politics—it should be a national priority. The fact that the two main parties refuse to even listen to us is a serious problem. 

So, after Easter, we will publish a manifesto and start collecting signatures. I am sure we will get enough signatures to take our proposals to Congress, because we have support from people across all social and ideological backgrounds. This is not a question of racism or being against Islam; it is a question of defending our society.

When Sonia and I decided to talk about this, we did it because in some areas of Madrid, and especially in Catalonia, it is absolutely catastrophic. There are neighborhoods where you don’t know if you’re in Spain, just as is happening in other European countries. When we started our initiative, I thought we would have support, but not as much as we had. That is why I hope that the political parties will respond to this social demand, and that is why we have to put pressure on them. I insist, this is a question of country, of state, of civilization.

However, the problem in Spain is that many political parties are unwilling to act because they have other agendas. 

Yes, it is not only that they do not want to legislate on this issue, it is that they do not even want to hear about it, let alone speak about it. Fortunately, in Europe we see cases like that of the Danish prime minister, who said that Islam should either adapt or it has no place, or the Italian prime minister, who has been very forceful in defending our culture. 

Politicians see reality as we do, and in many cases, it is uncomfortable for them, but not as uncomfortable for them as for the citizens.

Recently, in a Galician town, the Muslim community asked for pork to be removed from the school menu. Schooling is compulsory, but eating school meals is not. Why do we Spaniards have to change our customs? Why must we accept these impositions? All this is completely unreasonable.

Your initiative aims to regulate the use of the Islamic veil. 

Yes, because the fact of the imposition of the dress is rooted in the belief that women are impure and inferior. This goes against the principle of equality, and against Article 14 of the Spanish constitution. It is forced on minors by their families, which means that they cannot choose for themselves. 

When you see these young girls saying that they wear the veil because it is their freedom, it is because they have been veiled for so long that they have accepted it as something normal. And then there are garments like the burqa, where a woman is covered from head to toe in a prison of cloth, which eliminates the woman as a human being. All of this goes against a fundamental human right—the right to dignity.

Defenders of the veil argue that it is part of religious freedom. 

Yes, religious freedom is a fundamental right, but it can be restricted when it conflicts with other fundamental rights, as is happening here in its impact on women. We cannot allow this in a democratic society. We cannot normalize something that is inherently oppressive, yet is becoming increasingly widespread. 

We talk constantly about diversity and tolerance, and in schools they are already teaching the Islamic religion and Moroccan culture. It is absolute hypocrisy. Moreover, the content of the subject and the people who teach it are under the control of the Islamic Commission, with no oversight or accountability. It seems that we are not learning from what happened in Europe, where one of the main problems is the extremist indoctrination of young people. 

Spain has certain rights and freedoms, and whoever comes to Spain must adapt to our rights and obligations. If you come, this is what it is, if you do not accept it, do not come. 

What we cannot do is distort or manipulate reality. Facts are facts—they don’t care about political agendas or ideological spin. But data is often concealed or manipulated—for example, by avoiding mention of the nationality of those convicted of sexual assault or rape. If 13% of the population is responsible for 50% of sexual assaults, that’s not racism—it’s a troubling statistic. Hiding this kind of information causes serious harm.

You mentioned Denmark and Italy earlier, and it’s important to note that in the first, a social democratic government is in power, and in the second, a right-wing government—which shows that this is an issue where the interests of the state take precedence over ideology.

Yes, it’s interesting that the leaders who have taken the clearest stance on this issue in Europe are women, and that they come from opposing sides of the political spectrum. Perhaps this time, the new reconquest won’t be led by a Don Pelayo, but by a woman.