In the space of just three months of 2016, 13 women at least have been murdered by their partners, a figure that could rise to 15 if two cases that are still under investigation are confirmed. These figures —as of March 31st— from the Government Office for Gender Violence represent a 62.5 percent increase over the gender-violence death toll recorded in the same period in 2015.
Now that over 10 years have passed since Organic Act 1/2004, of 28 December, on comprehensive protection measures against gender violence, came into force, an assessment needs to be made of its application to find out what progress has been made and what needs changing.
In 2015, the Defensor del Pueblo asked the Government Office for an assessment of the application of the law and undertook several courses of action regarding gender violence, most notably:
– Supervision of the degree of compliance with the “National Strategy for Eradicating Violence against Women 2013-2016” and reinforcement of all autonomous-regional and municipal plans for comprehensive and individualised action with women victims of gender violence and their children.
– A request has been made for a review and update of indicators for police assessment of risk (VPR in its acronym in Spanish) and police assessment of risk evolution (VPER) in gender violence cases.
– The monitoring of progress made in setting up Family Care Services at all the National Police Force police stations where they do not exist.
– The processing status of the Protocol for coordination, collaboration and derivation among professionals who deal with gender and domestic violence and of the Protocol for Offices for Assisting Victims, as well as the Protocol for Institutes for Legal Medicine.
The Defensor del Pueblo also highlights the measures provided for under Organic Act 8/2015, of 22 July, that alters the protection system for children and adolescents that enhances the tools for identifying and protecting women victims of gender violence and their sons and daughters efficiently.
The number of minors who have been murdered by their fathers as a way of inflicting as much damage as possible on their mothers means that we have to be particularly watchful, in order to try to prevent more deaths. The Defensor wants the Basic protocol for Intervention against child ill-treatment in the family environment to be implemented.
