A large group of recently graduated prosecutors participated in a special session on LGTBI awareness and racism/xenophobia, organized by the Center for Legal Studies as part of the training on hate crimes and discrimination. The meeting was attended by four experts and the public prosecutor Miguel Ángel Aguilar .

The training activity was scheduled on the occasion of the International Day against Racial Discrimination, celebrated on March 21, and was attended by the lawyer Ángeles Blanco; the coordinator of the EAPN organization, María Gangutia; the representative of the Fundación Secretariado Gitano, Sara Giménez; and the president of the Junta Islámica, Isabel Romero.

In general terms, the president of Junta Islámica explained some basic data about Islam and the Muslim community in Spain, currently numbering 2.5 million people. Romero focused on the analysis of Islamophobia, a growing phenomenon in Europe, and the hate crimes associated with it in the criminal code.

The also director of the Halal Institute urged young prosecutors to broaden their knowledge of Islam to avoid falling into inappropriate clichés and to apply the law correctly. He also clarified some concepts about the diversity of the Islamic world as opposed to the generalized idea that tends to view this monotheistic religion professed by more than 2 billion people as a homogeneous confession without nuances.

The debate focused on the media issue of the veil and the differences between the burqa, the niqab and the hijab, three traditional garments in some areas of the Muslim space. “It is very important that this type of round tables and courses are generalized for judges and prosecutors as well as for law enforcement agencies,” argues Isabel Romero.

Good training of legal and police officers will allow for a “better understanding of certain offenses” that until recently were not covered by the legal framework. With the approval of article 510 of the criminal code and the Victims’ Statute, Romero reflects, there is greater awareness of the “idea of protection” and “accompaniment”, in addition to the role played by the so-called third sector. “In our case, as an Islamic community, and the role we play in raising awareness, training and guidance,” she adds.

Precisely to reinforce the knowledge of the parties involved, Islamic Board and Las Fuentes Foundation are currently working on the design of a specific course, Living together in Diversity, aimed at helping the “understanding of the phenomenon” and “promoting coexistence” in an increasingly open and plural world. The course is aimed at the general public, but especially at public institutions, NGOs and educators.

Isabel Romero warned against the campaigns promoted by the extreme right to “point to Islam and Muslims as impossible people for coexistence”. These types of initiatives, added the president of Islamic Board, are generating “confrontation” within society and targeting a group of more than 2.5 million people living in Spain.