Spanish government uses gender violence fund for twerking festival

‘Twerking sexualises and objectifies women from a very young age’

‘We have found that some of the funds are being spent in a frivolous way’

SPAIN’S Left-wing government is facing a backlash for using funds reserved to tackle gender violence to pay for a feminist twerking festival in Tenerife.

The Festival of Feminist Twerking, billed as an effort to “reassign twerking from a feminist perspective”, was granted €105,000 (£ 90,020) by Spain’s equalities ministry.

The event, which took place in October 2022, angered traditional Spanish feminists, who have been at war with the ministry over its position on trans rights. The Alliance Against the Erasure of Women demanded that the government claw back hundreds of thousands of euros from the national Pact Against Gender Violence fund spent on other “frivolous” events such as workshops teaching pastry-making and a chocolate-tasting session.

Held in the city of Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, the twerkfest claimed to be “a feminist event” aimed at “conveying a message that breaks gender stereotypes”. Around 230 women reportedly participated in the festival.

“Twerking is in no way feminist,” said Ana Monzón, a member of the Alliance Against the Erasure of Women association that has lodged the complaint into “flagrant misuse” of state gender violence funds. “Twerking sexualises and objectifies women from a very young age because it goes with music that is popular among young people.”

Twerking is a dance move performed in a sexually provocative manner by thrusting one’s hips and shaking the buttocks.

Ms Monzón, a sociologist specialising in violence against women, told The Telegraph that the association had found around 10 events that used money from the state fund that had nothing to do with the stated purpose of the national pact, signed in 2017 by all parties with parliamentary representation at that time. The pact was ratified again in 2021 by all parties with the exception of the far-right Vox.

The funds from the pact, which in 2023 had a budget of €600,000 (£ 514,410), are to help eliminate violence against women through activities such as the training of social agents like police officers and judges, information campaigns, education in schools and preventive measures for women at risk.

“We have found that some of the funds are being spent in a frivolous and incorrect way,” said Ms Monzón.

The equality ministry, headed by Socialist Ana Redondo, said in a statement that it would investigate and “take matters to the bitter end” to avoid misuse of funds in the future. But the Alliance Against the Erasure of Women said the response was insufficient and urged the ministry to conduct an audit of how regional and local governments had spent funds over recent years.

The town hall of Bollullos de la Mitación, Andalusia, is one of the authorities singled out by the complaint for requesting and spending gender violence funds on a “sensory psychology” event for women, which included a “chocolate tasting” activity. Participants would be helped to discover why they feel anxiety and be shown ways to help manage negative emotions through tasting chocolate, nuts and infusions.