Doris Benegas
| Doris Benegas | |
|---|---|
Doris Benegas during a rally in Barcelona, 2009
|
|
| Born |
Doris Benegas Haddad 1951 Caracas, Venezuela |
| Died | 29 July 2016 (aged 64–65) Valladolid, Spain |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Occupation | Lawyer, politician |
| Known for | Leader of the Izquierda Castellana party |
| Political party | Castilian Left |
| Children | 1 |
| Parent(s) | José Benegas-Echeverría Doris Haddad |
| Relatives | José María Benegas (brother) |
Doris Benegas Haddad (1951 – 29 July 2016) was a Spanish political lawyer specialising in criminal law, particularly causes related to women and left-wing politics. She was also a political leader, leading a regional branch of the communist movement in the 1970s as well as the pro-independence nationalist leftist coalition, the Castilian Left, from 2002 to her death in 2016.
Benegas was born in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1951. Her father was José María Benegas Echeverría, an exiled Basque Nationalist politician, who fled Spain in 1939 following the victory of General Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War. Her mother was Doris Haddad, a Lebanese-Jewish woman who migrated from Lebanon to Venezuela. In 1956 the family moved back to Echeverría's home region, the Basque Country. In 1964, she left home to attend high school in Bayonne, in French Basque Country, returning to Spain in 1969 to begin studying law at the University of the Basque Country in San Sebastian. In 1972, Benegas moved to Valladolid and started working in the FASA-Renault car factory. There she participated in workers' strikes and industrial action, and subsequently lost her job for her involvement in these activities. She also joined the communist movement and as a result came under police surveillance. In May 1973, she was arrested for her political activism.
Benegas completed her law degree and joined the Bar in Valladolid in 1975.
Once qualified, Benegas opened a law office in Valladolid. Her legal work was mainly in criminal law, and in cases concerning gender violence, abortion, drug trafficking and defending leftist political activists. She also defended victims of the colza oil intoxication. She represented the families of people shot during Franco's regime, and she was in favour of Basque independence and actively supported Basque ETA prisoners. She was also well known for her commitment to women's social causes - in 1993, she co-founded the Association of Women Lawyers of Valladolid, and in 1994 the Association of Assistance to Victims of Sexual Assault and Child Abuse. She also founded the Association of Women Jurists and the feminist collective Women of Valladolid. In 1996, she spoke at the 10th Congress of Women Lawyers on the subject "The new criminal code and protection of the rights of women".
...
Wikipedia