Between January and June of this year, there were 13 murders of women in Spain, motivated by machismo, committed by men with whom they were not in a relationship. This is the information made public this Monday by the Ministry of Equality, which has been counting these types of crimes since the beginning of 2022. Last year there were 34 femicides, 22 of them in the first semester.
The statistics attempt to document the killing of women because they are women, other than those committed by men within a romantic relationship, which falls within the scope of the comprehensive law against gender-based violence and is represented by each of the equality. six months. Last year, Spain became the first European country to record this crime.
Out of 13 cases registered in the first six months of the year, the absolute majority, eight, are family femicides: four of them were committed by the victim’s son, and one by the grandson. This is in addition to three sexual femicides committed against women between the ages of 41 and 50 who were engaged in prostitution, explained the government’s delegate against gender-based violence, Victoria Rosell, who reported the statistics.
Two of the femicides are classified as “social”, in which the aggressors were the murdered woman’s roommate and the victim’s acquaintance, a friend’s son. The categories into which these crimes fit were determined by Equality after consultation with various organizations, including the General Council of the Court and the European Institute for Gender Equality.
Known attackers
As was the case last year, all the aggressors were men known to the victims, and in almost half, six out of 13, there was coexistence between the aggressor and the victim. Only in one case was a complaint filed. “It’s amazing how the home, which looks like a safe place from a more masculinist perspective of security, becomes a place of risk for women,” explained Rosell, who also highlighted the “maximum vulnerability” women face. in the context of sexual exploitation or prostitution”.
The delegate detailed the indicators of gender-based violence in couples or ex-partners and confirmed the last three cases that occurred in September. Thus, 47 women have been killed by men they had or had romantic relationships with in a year that could become one of the bloodiest in recent years.
In both 2021 and 2022, there were 49 homicides for the entire year, just two more than on September 18, 2023. Although this is not the most cases in the historical series, it is the same data recorded in 2019. The year ended with 56 homicides, surpassing only five annual records since 2004.
Source: El Diario
