This week we learned about the shocking case of an abuser who cut the throat and cooked his partner’s rabbit to, in his opinion, teach the woman “a lesson.” It happened in Montserrat, a town in the Valencian Community, and the man faces almost 12 years in prison for sexist violence and animal abuse, among other crimes.
Harming a pet by threatening or causing suffering to one’s partner can be considered a form of vicarious violence against women. The law does not include it, but it is the opinion of the lawyer who is an expert in sexist violence, Marta Ariste, who says that attacks on animals can be compared to violence against children, although “with another level of seriousness.”
“The will to harm and cause pain to women are the same, only the instrument you use to achieve it changes,” he argues.
Dogs, cats or rabbits are another tool that abusers use to threaten and harm partners or ex-partners. “By harming the animal, I am indirectly harming you, that is why we talk about vicarious violence, because it is not direct aggression, but through other means,” explains Ariste.
“The objective is identical,” insists the lawyer. “They want to exert sexist violence, with the concept of domination and power,” she adds. In fact, she believes that “whoever mistreats your animal has probably mistreated you or will mistreat you.”
Legally, the expert clarifies, violence against pets is not included in the assumptions of the sexist violence law. “The courts are not very involved. How should we get a conviction for causing harm through your animal, if sometimes we don’t even get convictions for having directly harmed the woman?” criticizes the lawyer.
In fact, Ariste regrets that it still generates “controversy” to consider vicarious violence as part of sexist violence. And he remembers that there are people who wonder “if women don’t kill”, to question the violence directed against the couple’s children or animals.
As with children, threats to harm the pet add fear and pressure to women who consider reporting a case of sexist violence. “What will happen to the animal? What will it do to it? Will it give it food? Will it kill it?” many victims wonder, according to the expert. And she adds: “The fear is the same as with a child: what if it happens? What if it kills him?”
“As long as I stay here, I know I can protect the animal in some way. If I leave, I don’t know what will happen,” many victims of sexist violence think. In this sense, Ariste highlights the work of the Viopet program, which shelters animals of women victims of sexist violence who cannot be taken with them.
As a result of the latest reforms to the Civil Code and the Penal Code, and the approval of the new animal welfare law, it is expected that someone will harm an animal with the aim of causing pain to another person. And this is classified as an aggravating factor in the crime of animal abuse.
Of course, this aggravating circumstance does not have a gender perspective, since the law speaks of mistreatment of the animal that is done to “intimidate, harass or bother the person with whom the perpetrator lives, or with whom he maintains a relationship of any kind.” guy”. If this circumstance occurs, the penalties are higher.
This article was originally published on RAC1.
