Despite the loud noise surrounding gender violence, amplified by denialist sectors, the enormous dimensions of this scourge cannot be hidden and it reveals the anguish in which tens of thousands of women live. In the third quarter of the year, 581 daily complaints were registered (one every two days in the case of minors), 53,480 from July to September, data that reveals “a reality that is difficult to digest by revealing that sexist violence Unfortunately, it is still very present in Spain,” says the president of the Observatory against Domestic and Gender Violence of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), Ángeles Carmona.
The president of this observatory believes that female victims are increasingly aware of how important it is to report the facts to the police or judicial authorities. This is reflected by the almost constant increase in the number of complaints in the last two years, which in the third quarter of 2023 grew by 8.09% compared to the same quarter last year.
Reports are only the tip of the iceberg of gender violence, since many women (less and less) do not report. As proof, of the 55 fatalities so far this year, 74.5% (41) had not filed a complaint.
Tens of thousands of complaints, most filed by the victims themselves. In two out of three cases (38,758, 72.47%), the complaints were filed by the victim herself, either in court or at the police station. But the victim’s environment continues to fail. In the third quarter they barely reached 1.84% of the total.
What happens, that no one sees the abuse, only the victim? In the last meeting held by the Ministers of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and the Minister of Equality, Ana Redondo, they agreed to focus on families, friends, and the neighborhood, after verifying that the environment of 22 women murdered this year he did know about the situation of abuse he was going through, but no one reported it.
More complaints are filed in police reports, which represented 15.28% of the total, while those originating from injuries decreased to represent 7.81 percent. Complaints filed by third parties also decreased, which in the third quarter of the year represented 2.59 percent of the total.
The president of the Observatory also highlights another reality revealed by the statistical data for this quarter: the “excellent” work of the judicial bodies in this matter. The more than 70,000 criminal cases and the more than 5,500 civil cases registered in the violence against women courts give a clear idea of ??the volume of work faced by the judges who are in charge of these judicial bodies. Figures to which must be added the 1,619 trials for minor crimes, half of which were for immediate prosecution.
The rate of victims of gender violence per 10,000 women once again experienced a year-on-year increase, with the national average for the third quarter of 2023 standing at 21.4 compared to the rate of 19.8 a year ago.
The Balearic Islands were above the national average, with a ratio of 36.8 victims per 10,000 women; Murcia, with 32.3; Valencian Community, with 29.7; Canary Islands, with 26.6; Andalusia, with 23.5; Navarra, with 22.4; and Extremadura, with 21.6.
At the bottom, Galicia (13.3), Castilla y León (13.9); Basque Country (15); La Rioja (15.2) and Castilla-La Mancha and Catalunya (17.1).
