Increase in the murder of women in Spain calls the judiciary into action

In December alone there were eleven femicides. Public prosecutors can now apply for precautionary measures to protect victims without reporting them

After a sharp increase in violence against women in Spain in recent weeks, the responsible authorities have taken action. In future, the state’s public prosecutors should also apply for precautionary measures to protect victims of domestic violence if no complaint has been made but there are sufficient indications of a threat. This was ordered on Wednesday by the prosecutor of the chamber against violence against women, Teresa Peramato.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska called on the police to be even more vigilant on Monday. According to figures from the Ministry for Equality, eleven women were killed by current or former partners in Spain last December. This is the highest monthly value in the past five years. According to official information, three women were killed by partners in the first few days of January. In contrast, the monthly average in recent years has been three to four.

The recent increase shows that “mistakes are being made somewhere,” admitted the spokeswoman for the left-wing government, Isabel Rodríguez. The Spanish protection system has been “groundbreaking” for years, but one must now see whether there is a “need for modernization”.

Gender Equality Minister Irene Montero said there is no “magic formula” to put an end to violence against women. This is a “structural problem”. “But we have to stop normalizing male violence. Screams, shoves shouldn’t be normal. At the slightest sign, we have to tell the victims that we are by their side. Let’s stop the aggressors together,” she said in an interview with the radio station “Cadena Ser”.