• Figures: Crimes due to sexist violence rebound but complaints go down
  • Machismo: A third of the 37 sexist murderers this year committed suicide

The Observatory against Domestic and Gender Violence of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) has released on Wednesday the new official data on sexist violence in our country for the last triennium. This study reflects that the number of women killed by their partners or former partners during the years 2016, 2017 and 2018 was 151, 11.2% less than in the previous three-year period.

However, of the total fatalities, 46 of those women, the equivalent of 30.5% of the total murdered, had previously filed a complaint against their aggressor. The victims who had filed a prior complaint had an average age of 38.3 years. By age, the highest rate of complaints - 47% of the total - was among the youngest women, who were between 16 and 25 years old. Almost half of those who reported - 47.8% of the women killed - lived with their aggressor.

In addition, the percentage of women who had reported was higher among foreigners (31.5% of them) than among those of Spanish nationality (29.9%).

Regarding the nationality of the victim, two thirds (64.2%) of those killed in the period analyzed were Spanish; the other 35.8% were foreigners. Non-Spanish victims were mostly from other countries in Europe or Latin America , with 48 and 43% of the total, respectively. In the years analyzed, the majority of the women killed came from Morocco and Romania (21% in each case), followed by countries such as Ecuador, Bolivia and the Dominican Republic .

The truth is that the number of fatalities of gender violence in the area of ​​the couple has remained constant in the last period analyzed: 50 women were killed in 2016; 51 in the year 2017; and, a total of 50 in 2018.

Since 2003, the year in which the Observatory against Domestic and Gender Violence began to compile statistics, those killed in the field of the couple or ex-couple have been 978.

Minor orphans

On the other hand, due to sexist violence, 102 minors were orphaned between 2016 and 2018. 43% of the victims killed had minor children in common with the aggressor or the result of a previous relationship and 75% of These women were mother. According to the analysis carried out by this agency dependent on the governing body of the judges, maternity, together with poverty, economic or disability dependence and pregnancy, is a factor that makes women victims of sexist violence more vulnerable and which is related to the high percentage of cases without prior complaint: fear grips the victim, who does not report to protect their children.

In addition, according to the data collected, 64.9% of the victims of femicide lived with the aggressor at the time of their death and 45.7% had or had a marital bond with the offender. If the last ten years are taken into account, this link existed in almost half of the cases: husband (42.8%), ex-husband (3.8%), another current affective relationship (29.3%) or another finished emotional relationship (24%).

In a press release, from the aforementioned agency wants to convey to society, once again, its concern about these figures that "indicate that the percentage of murdered women who had previously reported increased by three points compared to the average of the last ten years".

The Observatory notes that the silence of the victim is a "risk factor for the lives of battered women", so it is of great importance to make them aware, but also the whole society, of the need to report. "The victims of sexist violence are crushed by panic, which prevents them from reporting for fear of reprisals," they stress.

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  • General Council of the Judiciary
  • Ecuador
  • Europe
  • Morocco
  • Gender violence
  • Machismo

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