EROSKI has launched a new protocol to turn its stores into Shelter Points, with the aim of offering a place of reception and accompaniment to people victims of gender-based violence and attacks against the LGBTI+ collective. The initiative, which will be implemented in the Basque Country, Navarre, La Rioja and Cantabria, will be developed both in hypermarkets, supermarkets, logistics platforms and in their central offices.

Through this protocol, EROSKI stores are configured as spaces of trust, where anyone who feels at risk can find a safe environment, receive close attention and be accompanied, always respecting their will, towards the resources or services they consider appropriate.

The initiative has a specific protocol of action for working people, which establishes clear guidelines of intervention based on calm, empathic listening, respect for the decisions of the affected person and the absolute priority of safety, both of the victim and the staff of the center. In no case do the tents replace emergency services or security forces, but they act as the first space of refuge and accompaniment.

Marta Carazo, head of Social Management at EROSKI, points out that “eROSKI stores are part of the daily life of thousands of people and are present in neighborhoods and towns. Turning them into Shelter Points is a coherent way of exercising our social responsibility to offer closeness, listening and accompaniment to those who may need help in a moment of vulnerability, always with respect and without invading their autonomy”.

The initiative is part of EROSKI’s historic commitment to equality, coexistence and respect for people, and reinforces its role as a consumer cooperative close to the social reality of the territories in which it operates.