Cabildo de Tenerife

Address: C/ Bethencourt Alfonso, nº 17 (former Calle San José)
38002 Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Opening hours:
Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Tuesday and Thursday: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Except for holiday periods: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Telephone:
922 53 40 47

Fax:
922 53 40 58

Email: centromujer1@tenerife.es

OBJECTIVE

The establishment and/or consolidation of the Island Centre for Information, Advice and Documentation for Gender Equality should be seen as a positive action within the strategic lines of the specific policy on equal opportunities between men and women, adapted to the needs of the environment and population of the island.

The fact that populations with extremely different characteristics in an island setting have access to a centre of this kind is a first vital step towards spreading and promoting equal opportunities between men and women.

The Centre for Information, Advice and Documentation for Gender Equality is therefore defined as follows: a resource for the island, destined as a means of publicizing policies of equality, and as an instrument of communication and dialogue between local government and society.

The centre will provide a free service to the public, and its priority objective is to offer a comprehensive response to women with a view to enhancing their total integration into all sectors of society, and provide information about the rights and opportunities of women, by offering guidance and advice in the various areas related to equal opportunities between men and women.

SERVICES OFFERED TO CITIZENS

List of services provided:

Legal Advice

The centre offers free specialist information on legal matters for women in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. In order to guarantee equal access for all women, the project provides backing for legal information activities all over the island.

Tasks:

• Advice and personalized technical guidance for women on any legal issue (housing, setting up a business, networking, employment, traffic, consumption and so on).
• Talks and informative sessions about legal issues of interest to women on the premises of Women’s Associations, Cultural Centres, etc.

Information about equal opportunities

To provide women with information about rights and resources within their reach to ensure full social promotion, and to inform private or public institutions, professional women’s associations and the general public about equal opportunities.

Tasks:

• Provide a legal and legislative framework for the defence of women’s rights and the mechanisms for its application.
• Use appropriate channels to publicize programmes for equal opportunities between men and women created on a municipal, island, regional, national and international level and ensure immediate access.
• Inform citizens individually about existing resources in their area of influence for addressing situations of sexist discrimination and other circumstances that infringe women’s rights.
• Provide information about issues of interest to women: studies, training, employment, etc.
• Updated information and documentation about legislation and standards related to equal opportunities between men and women for local government, private and public institutions on request.
• Respond to information requests on equality issues.
• Establish relations for communication and exchange with the networking movement and the social fabric of the island.

Advice on equal opportunities issues

Provide specialist advice on request for women and institutions, private and public bodies, associations, professionals and the general public about specific issues regarding equal opportunities for men and women.

Tasks:

• Advise local government and private and public institutions on request about matters regarding equal opportunities between men and women, as well as draw up reports or other petitions put forward by these institutions.
• Provide technical advice for activities at women’s associations.
• Orientate women about using and accessing resources for the defence of their rights, through appropriate channels.
• Provide individual advice for women’s consultations about legal matters, such as divorces, separations, etc.

Documentation

The centre will provide a service for documentary consultation and will maintain a bibliographical documentary fund and newspaper and periodicals library on specialist issues regarding equal opportunities for private users or groups and professionals.

Tasks:

• Ongoing updating of new documentation of interest to women.
• Search for information requested by users.
• Reading room with free access to the documentary fund at the centre.
• Seek and collect all the bibliographical, documentary and audiovisual funds within its reach about women and the gender issue on a local, island, regional, national and international level.
• Provide the user population with a constantly developing bibliographical and documentary fund, thus enhancing accessibility to the service.
• Develop research lines and rescue local cultural heritage bequeathed by local women, given their traditional role as cultural transmitters within the family.
• Publicize studies about women and all work that contributes to changing values and a critical understanding of society from a gender perspective.
• Serve as a main source and bibliographical and documentary support for projects and research for addressing the most common problems of women in their areas of influence..

Self consultation

Women and other persons interested may consult the information dossiers available according to subject areas, access leaflets and informational material and make use of the centre’s information notice-boards.

External lending

Through women’s groups, audiovisual, computer and material resources are available to women for carrying out activities in equal opportunities between men and women.

Tasks:

• Provision of a variety of material:
• Digital cameras.
• Video cameras.
• Laptops and projectors.
• Scanner, television sets

Multi-purpose room

An area for organising different activities at the centre, such as talks, workshops and conferences, or for use as a meeting room and meeting place for associations, etc..

Technological room

This area provides a free computer service to the public for consultation and Internet access.

OUR COMMITMENTS

The list of services corresponding to the Centre for Information, Advice and Documentation for Gender Equality will be given and acknowledged in accordance with the following commitments:

• SPEED: Information unavailable at the time of consultation will be provided within a maximum period of 7 (seven) days.
• RELIABILITY: The information provided to persons who come to the centre shall be from direct and proven information sources.
• COOPERATION: The centre shall establish stable and continuous cooperation with private and public institutions to ensure the information available is adequately circulated.
• ACCESSIBILITY: the centre’s services will be easy to contact and accessible to the entire population, with no need for prior appointment.
• OPPORTUNITY: the information supplied shall be given at the appropriate moment and adapted to the needs of the applicant.
• EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN: The centre undertakes to plan its actions and process information by incorporating the gender perspective into all services provided.