“Today is a very important day because as a Government we begin to recognize that there has been murders that until now have gone under the radar“. It is September 2022 and the words belong to the then Secretary of State for Equality, Ángela Rodríguez. Her team presented the first results of a statistic that months ago had been presented as a pioneer in the entire European territory: the data on sexist murders outside the partner or ex-partner. A historical demand of the feminist movement that, for the moment, has no palpable ambition for continuity. beyond the quantitative dimension.
The statistic started almost two years ago with one ambition: portray the real dimension of sexist violence, the one who hits women for the simple fact of being women. In short, abandon the corset of couple relationships, a priority category at the time – when two decades ago the public authorities began to address gender violence as a structural problem – but which has proven insufficient to address violence against women. women as a whole.
Four categories were put on the table. The first, the sexual femicide, where victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation, prostitution or those who suffer the consequences of female genital mutilation or forced marriage also find shelter. He is followed by vicarious feminicidewhich not only puts the magnifying glass on the sons and daughters, but also recognizes any other woman murdered with the aim of mistreating a third.
He family feminicide, like what happened this Thursday in Badajoz, puts figures on women murdered at the hands of a man with a “kinship relationship by consanguinity or affinity.” The last category, the social feminicide, has to do with the murder of a woman after an attack by a stranger or a man with whom there was no relationship or family relationship. For example, murder after a robbery, the murder of a woman by a co-worker or when the aggressor is a neighbor.
Children as main aggressors
After two years of collecting data, the Ministry of Equality now has enough information to draw a reliable image of what femicides outside the couple are like.
In 2022, a total of 34 femicidesa figure that was reduced by 22 the following year. That is to say, 56 men murdered to women for the mere fact of being women in the last two years. The majority, 33 (that is, 58.9%) were family femicides. Social feminicide is the second most numerous: fifteen women were murdered by other men who were not their partners or family members, 26.8%. Finally, eight were sexually motivated, 14.3%. No vicarious feminicide has been recorded, since this statistic excludes minor children, who are considered direct victims of sexist violence and have had their own statistics for years.
In 23 cases, the perpetrators were children or grandchildren of the victim. That is, the majority of femicides outside the couple are committed by children against their mothers and grandchildren against their grandmothers. In one case the aggressor was the father and in the remaining nine other unspecified family members. In thirteen of the cases, the perpetrator was a neighbor or roommate, and in ten it was another acquaintance. This reality confronts the myth of sexist aggression perpetrated by unknown men, an idea fueled by a story of terror traditionally linked to sexual violence.
Regarding age groups, the data show a trend: Most victims are older than their attackers.. It is the opposite phenomenon to gender violence in a couple and actually fits with the fact that the majority relationship between victims and perpetrators is mother-child. Thus, the most common age group among victims is between 41 and 50 years old, with eleven female victims, and between 51 and 60 years old, with another eleven. On the other hand, the age range decreases significantly in the case of the aggressors: eleven are between the ages of 21 and 30 and sixteen are in the 31-40 age range.
In 22 of the cases (39.3%) there was coexistence and they only existed previous complaints in seven, so the absence of reporting is an overwhelming reality: 87.5% of the victims did not go to the authorities to raise the alarm.
And now that?
The task of carrying out an x-ray of the characteristics and particularities of sexist violence outside the couple can be considered accomplished. But what are the next steps? Common sense and experience dictate that, after collecting data, a detailed analysis of the situation and the promotion of public policies aimed at preventing, detecting and fighting violence is advisable. If in 2003 the Government began the official count of victims of sexist violence in contexts of intimate relationships, only A year later a specific law was approved and integral to stand up to this structural violence.
“Among the advertising campaigns planned in the Government Delegation of Gender Violence there is one on sexual violence against women,” specify sources from the Ministry of Equality, who point out that the only report planned on femicides is the one that concerns the figures. “In principle this is what is planned“, they say.
Two years ago, the previous ministry team presented the initiative as “the principle of justice and reparation that these victims need.” But no concrete plan seems to follow that starting point. At least for the moment.
“The data was needed as basis for developing public policiesespecially in a time of hoaxes,” explains today the former Government delegate against Gender Violence and magistrate Victoria Rosell. In that sense, he completes, “we are at the beginning of the path.” In his opinion, even recognizing that policy development has a long-term focus, there are steps that can be taken immediately. The first and most obvious, he points out, for research purposes. “It is important to broaden the gender perspective, even from police investigation or psychological intervention,” she adds, “feminicides help to understand what gender violence is beyond the 2004 law.”
The particularity of violence against mothers
Rosell focuses specifically on the murders of children of mothers. “How can you not see gender reasons in the son who kills his mother. Family feminicide of mothers and grandmothers is very prominent and this has never been studied in Spain,” observes the magistrate, who warns that it would be reasonable to begin by putting the focus on this type of feminicide due to its dimension, now put into figures. The former delegate slips a focus: the role of “caregivers that leads” mothers to “place themselves in a objective risk situation“.
It reaches that same point Miguel Lorente, forensic doctor and Government delegate between 2008 and 2011. In the latest sentences on homicides due to domestic violence analyzed by the CGPJ (years 2021 and 2022), seventeen family femicides were analyzed, fourteen of them sons against mothers, one of a grandson against his grandmother, three brothers against his sisters and one of a nephew against his aunt. In 2021, 80% of the perpetrators had mental disorders or addictions, a percentage that rises to 85.7% in 2022. This is where the first specificity emerges: “It is interesting because it shows that the conflict that leads to homicides is very different.” to that which exists in violence within the couple, since it is mediated by mental alterations,” analyzes Lorente.
And there it is key, adds Rosell, to understand that “a woman has to be on the edge to denounce your own son“, especially when any of the aforementioned circumstances exist. Therefore, one of the keys to keep in mind is that “the criminal response does not satisfy” women when there is an “emotional bond” as strong as that of a mother and his son, so a possible front would be to study alternative measures focused on moving towards “vital independence” and not so much on punishment.
Prevent, raise awareness and legislate
Graciela Atencio knows well what it means to collect data on violence beyond the couple. After more than a decade doing it autonomously on her website Femicide de ella, the journalist finally observes how the statistic is now official. However, she introduces some buts to the final results. For example, a clearer definition is missing of each typology – “conceptualizing is politicizing”, he insists – he highlights the lack of specificity of some sections – he wonders who would be included in the category of other acquaintances – and criticizes the absence of prevalencethat is, the rate of femicides per one hundred thousand women, a key element when establishing comparisons at an international level.
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Atencio suggests an in-depth study capable of delving into the details of each feminicide: he talks about developing comparative analyzes of sentences, exploring indicators and patterns, determining if there is a high percentage of suicides or if there is cruelty in the crimes. “The important thing about statistics is finding patterns and being able to establish indicators,” she agrees. Secondly, it affects the lack of public campaigns. “If these femicides have begun to be recognized, we hope that they carry out awareness campaigns for the entire population“, he says on the other end of the phone.
From there, it is advisable to think about a legislative horizon capable of offering tools to victims. The 2004 law is intended only for victims of intimate partner violence and the law of only yes is yes It is aimed at victims of sexual violence. What is the most effective legislative tool to address other violence and protect all women? “We have to find the best way to fit it into the legal system,” introduces the journalist and researcher, “we must consider the recognition of all forms of sexist violence and the ideal would be that will enter into a law“.
Lorente also claims to be in favor of joint regulation that recognizes “all different forms of violence.” In his opinion, “what has to be very clear to society is that gender violence has all these manifestations”, perhaps through “a matrix law that includes all this gender violenceregardless of whether it is later legislated independently, but not as if they were different forms of violence.”