Violence against women: still present in the country
As positive as this improvement may appear, the truth is violent sexism is still present in the country, with many women experiencing aggressive abuse by their male partners or ex-partners which sometimes results in the victim’s death. The number of women that had been killed in gender violence assaults has been fluctuating, but generally decreasing in the last decades, registering the most recent peak in 2008 with 76 deaths and its lowest record in 2021 with 48 fatal victims. Figures on the number of women under protection schemes or precautionary measures, however, show very different results – in 2022, around 32,600 women lived with special arrangements implemented to secure the victim’s safety on account of their assailant. These were women of all ages, although victims of 35 to 39 years old made up the largest group, mostly seeking protection from their civil partners or spouses. The regions with the highest number of cases are also the most populated, namely, Andalusia, Catalonia, the Region of Valencia and the Community of Madrid.
The victims and their assailants
The demographic details of abusers is on par with that of victims, with most reported assailants featuring an average age of 35 to 44 years old (31-50 years old in the case of murder cases) and predominantly of Spanish nationality. The perpetrators were mostly charged for inflicting injuries to women, but also for crimes of torture and moral integrity.
Fortunately, there are many institutions devoted to help gender abuse victims, with the latest records showing over 250 shelters accessible to female victims of violence in Spain. The country also offers a helpline victims of gender violence can call into which receives up to 100,000 calls a year, mainly from the victims themselves, although two out of every ten calls are made by family member or relatives of the victim.
