Protecting rights, building equality: the 8M of a social graduate
I am Conchita Araujo, social graduate, and since 2024, a worker at Fraternidad-Muprespa, in the Department of Communication and Institutional Relations. As a child I dreamed of being a nurse, healing wounds, helping others, what a beautiful job! My grandmother used to tell me: “Become a midwife, how wonderful, although… what a responsibility to help bring lives into the world.” My grandfather, whose birthday was March 8, would sit me on his knee and tell me fantastic stories about princes in which I was always the princess.
Over time, life took me in another direction and I chose to train as a social graduate. A different profession, but one that shared the same essence. I could contribute my grain of sand to society and also help others in other ways.
My father told me: "Daughter, you have made a good choice, you will be specialized in Labor Law and Social Security. If you study Law like me, then you will have to specialize, and the trend is specialization." My mother, like so many women who gave their lives to caring for their large family, supported me from the first moment. It was always clear to me that I had to build a future for myself.
Today, as a social graduate, I continue to maintain that vocation of care. If nursing protects health, our profession protects rights. If health personnel accompany the illness, we accompany in moments of work uncertainty, in negotiation, in conflict, in the search for balance between company and worker, we mediate to reach fair solutions for the parties.
In short, caring is also protecting the dignity and rights of those who trust us.
My profession has allowed me to be on the front line of what gave rise to Women's Day: the defense of decent working conditions. For a long time it was known as the International Day of Working Women because it was born linked to the demand for decent working conditions, fair working hours, safety at work, professional recognition and equal rights between men and women.
From my professional experience I have been able to verify that those demands do not only belong to the past. I have looked after the interests of companies and workers, seeking the necessary balance so that economic activity and social protection walk hand in hand. I have seen how labor regulations advance, how rights are consolidated and how organizations progressively incorporate equality and prevention policies. But I have also observed how many women continue to assume the majority of working hours reductions for family care; how motherhood can impact one's career path; how conciliation continues to be, on too many occasions, a personal challenge rather than a shared responsibility. And I have seen, at the same time, the commitment of some companies to build safer and fairer work environments. In a society in which the prevention of occupational risks and protection against professional contingencies occupy such an important place, we cannot forget that equality is also part of occupational health.
Working conditions, stability, recognition and the absence of discrimination directly influence people's physical and emotional well-being.
I have been very lucky not to feel discriminated against in the professional field. My first job opportunity was given to me by an administrative manager, who went to the job board of the Official College of Social Graduates of Madrid, and immediately encouraged me to go to the SMAC and labor inspections. Many years later I took the step of representing the group of companies I worked for before the Social Jurisdiction, thanks to my boss who was in charge of the company's Human Resources Department.
The move from “Working Women's Day” to “Women's Day” meant a broader vision. Today we talk about female leadership, co-responsibility, real equality, presence in all areas of decision-making. But we must not forget that the root of this commemoration is in work, in labor dignity and in social justice. As a woman and as a professional committed to social justice, I am sure that our daily work contributes, silently but constantly, to that goal. This March 8 we not only celebrate the progress made, but also the commitment to continue working for a society in which equality is not an aspiration, but a reality.
Each advice, each mediation, each procedure managed with rigor and humanity is a small piece in the construction of a fairer work environment.
Because looking after the interests of others, whether in a hospital or in the labor legal field, remains, in essence, the same vocation: that of caring. And social justice is not just a motto for social graduates, it must be a commitment for everyone.
If I have learned anything in my career, it is that caring does not always mean wearing a white coat. Sometimes it means studying a file responsibly, listening with empathy, explaining clearly and firmly defending the fairest position for the parties involved in a conflict. It means understanding that behind every contract, every payroll, every accident, every sick leave or every conflict, there are people.
After having developed part of my career as an external advisor and another dedicated to personnel management and labor relations, I have had the great opportunity to join the Communication and Institutional Relations department of Fraternidad-Muprespa. At this stage I have understood that my professional journey had a meaning. I would not have been able to get here without the previous experience and learning. Now I am part of an entity whose function as a mutual collaborator with Social Security is to take care of others, accompany workers in times of difficulty, and help its mutual members and collaborators to build safer and more responsible work environments.
We not only protect work accidents or occupational diseases, we also contribute to promoting a preventive and respectful culture in which the interests of people, men and women, coexist in harmony.
We care and help to care, also as prevention consultants, convinced that occupational health, equality and social justice are part of the same commitment to people and society.
This March 8, I thank all those women who, like me, strive every day to achieve a society that walks in harmony, with equal opportunities and based on consensus. Their effort, commitment and courage remind us that every small step towards social justice and equality counts, and that together, we will continue to build a more just world for all. And heartfelt thanks to all the people who have been and are part of my life, both personally and professionally, and to all those women and men who have trusted me.
