The Government confirms the four sexist murders that occurred in just 24 hours
Four murders in less than 24 hours. It is the balance left by machismo and its most brutal expression in these first days of a particularly bloody week: the Government Delegation against Gender Violence, dependent on the Ministry of Equality, has just confirmed the fourth as gender violence, that of a woman found lifeless in Corbera de Llobregat (Barcelona) this Tuesday. It thus adds to another also in Catalonia, specifically in Creixell (Tarragona) and the double crime of Monday afternoon that occurred in the Balearic Islands, where a man murdered a 28-year-old pregnant woman and her seven-year-old son. There are 12 fatal cases so far in 2021, 1,090 since the statistical series began in 2003.
The pandemic dropped complaints of sexist violence by 10% in 2020
Know more
‼ ️ We confirm the alleged murder by #GenderViolence of a 42-year-old woman in the province of Barcelona on May 18.
🔴 The number of women killed by gender violence in Spain rises to 12 in 2021 and 1,090 since 2003.#WeWantVive #Not one less
- Delegation of the Govt. Against Gender Violence (@DelGobVG) May 19, 2021
The Barcelona case has already been incorporated into the official figures managed by the delegation, which specify that the victim had two minor children. As reported by EFE, it was one of them who on Tuesday found the body of his mother, 42, in his home, for which he called the Mossos d'Esquadra. Upon arrival, the officers found a second body, that of his 50-year-old partner, who had committed suicide. A similar crime occurred in Creixell, where on Monday night after a warning from the Local Police of the town, the lifeless bodies of a 52-year-old woman and a 56-year-old man were found, who would also have committed suicide after commit murder.
And just a few hours before, a 35-year-old man was arrested in Sa Pobla, Mallorca, accused of killing his 28-year-old partner, who was pregnant, and also his seven-year-old son. Their lifeless bodies were found around 5:30 p.m. at the victim's home, after several of their relatives notified the police that they could have suffered an attack by their partner. A few hours later, the man confessed to the Civil Guard and this Wednesday he was brought to justice. With the child, there are two minors killed by gender violence this year; 39 since 2013, when they began to be officially accounted for.
Equality is committed to reviewing the protocols
The Ministry of Equality has condemned the last four confirmed sexist murders this Wednesday. Both the Minister of Equality, Irene Montero, and the Government delegate against Gender Violence, Victoria Rosell, have expressed "their most absolute condemnation and rejection" of the crimes and have transferred their support to the environment of the victims. Both have demanded "all efforts from the institutions, administrations and society as a whole to arrive on time and avoid more deaths."
Dismay at confirming today, by police and judicial information, 3 murders for alleged #GenderViolence : two women aged 28 and 52 and a boy aged 7. Prevention and protection against the most violent sexism requires the commitment of the whole of society. #Not one less https://t.co/Z5EBTcnfI4
- Mª Victoria Rosell Aguilar (@VickyRosell) May 18, 2021
This morning the minister showed her "special concern" in the plenary session of the State Observatory on Violence against Women for the latest murders, "where it is evident that we have been late as public powers," she lamented before expressing her will to "reflect and evaluate what happened ". Montero has promised to verify "what has gone wrong" and to review the protocols and tools available to protect women "immediately". He alluded to the same after the murder of a woman in Sagunto last week, who had a protection order and two days before being killed by her ex-partner had gone to the City Council's Equality services to ask for help.
Also the woman murdered in the Balearic Islands on Monday had denounced her attacker on a couple of occasions, but they had resumed living together. It is not an exceptional situation that victims of gender violence desist from the proceedings: according to the General Council of the Judiciary, in 2020 up to 10% of those who finally filed a complaint, availed themselves of the dispensation of not declaring against the abuser.
What is an exception, on the contrary, is that they report. According to the official figures for this 2021, only the last two of the twelve murdered had done so. Among the reasons are fear, shame, not giving importance or distrust in justice. "The victims of gender violence distrust the judicial system because the process is hard, damages and re-victimizes," said the Prosecutor of the Delegate Chamber against Violence against Women, Pilar Martín Nájera, in a recent interview with this medium.
