On March 6, Vice-Dean Carmen García Galindo read the CRUE manifesto to commemorate International Women’s Day, under the UN Women slogan: “Rights. Justice. Action for ALL women and girls.”
The manifesto states the following:
The slogan “Rights. Justice. Action for ALL women and girls” challenges our institutions, whose mission is to generate, transmit, and apply knowledge through research, teaching, and knowledge transfer.
In the university sphere, defending women’s rights means guaranteeing their full participation in academic, scientific, and professional life, without barriers, gaps, or discrimination. It means promoting safe environments free from harassment and violence, and making equal opportunities a real and
effective principle, beyond a mere formal declaration.
Justice requires us to analyze reality through a gender lens and act accordingly. Despite the progress achieved and the women who have paved the way in academic and scientific fields, gaps and obstacles persist that limit women’s progress in research careers on equal terms and hinder their access to decision-making and leadership spaces. Correcting these inequalities is not a symbolic issue. It is a matter of justice that strengthens the quality, excellence, and integrity of university action. Universities cannot be fully just while part of their talent remains invisible and underrepresented.
Action implies courage, responsibility, coherence, and sustained commitment. It means moving from words to deeds by consolidating and evaluating equality policies, supporting the development of female scientific vocations, and eliminating structural biases that continue to affect the evaluation, funding, and recognition of women’s merit. It also means strengthening cooperation among universities, public administrations, the productive sector, and civil society to build a more inclusive and equitable educational and scientific ecosystem.
On this International Women’s Day 2026, the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE) reaffirms its commitment to a university free from inequality, diverse in its leadership, co-responsible in care, and exemplary in the active defense of human rights.
From here, we urge everyone to actively advocate for rights, justice, and action for ALL women and girls. We especially call on those who study, research, teach, and work in our universities to lead by example. Every member of the university community is called upon to take responsibility and work together to transform our institutions into lasting spaces of equality and progress.
The reading was attended by students, faculty members, and members of the PTGAS (Technical, Management, and Administrative and Service Staff).
