The silent epidemic: a dive into domestic homicides in Spain"
Patricia Martínez Sastre
Some days ago, news outlets from my home country screamed blue murder after a 17-year-old girl was killed by
her ex-boyfriend in Murcia, Southeastern region. A total of three women have already been murdered this 2022.
And it's only February 18th.
In 2003, the Spanish Government started to collect data related to what was nationaly coined as "gender violence"
or "sexist violence"; this is any kind of agression (physical, phycological, verbal, etc.) perpetrated against women
mainly by an intimate partner, and anchored in an imbalanced system of male domination.
We dediced to analyze the number of sexist murders per 100,000 female residents, what allowed us to see how small territories,
like La Rioja or Cantabria (North), register the highest rate of murders.
Since 2003, 6 women have been killed in La Rioja (with a female population of around 160,000), 14 in Navarra and 10 in Cantabria;
both with a female population of around 300,000.
La Rioja is the Region with the Highest Conjugal Homicide Rate
Average Homicide Rate per 100,000 Female Residents since 2003
The Basque
Country
Cantabria
Asturias
Galicia
Navarra
La Rioja
Catalonia
Castile and Leon
Aragon
Madrid
0
-
0
.
2
%
0
.
2
-
0
.
2
5
0
.
2
5
-
0
.
3
Valencia
Extremadura
0
.
3
-
0
.
3
5
Castile-LaMancha
Balearic Islands
0
.
3
5
-
0
.
5
<
0
.
5
Murcia
Andalusia
Canary Islands
The Basque
Country
Cantabria
Asturias
Galicia
Navarra
La Rioja
Catalonia
Castile and Leon
Aragon
Madrid
0
-
0
.
2
%
0
.
2
-
0
.
2
5
0
.
2
5
-
0
.
3
Valencia
Extremadura
0
.
3
-
0
.
3
5
Castile-LaMancha
Balearic Islands
0
.
3
5
-
0
.
5
<
0
.
5
Murcia
Andalusia
Canary Islands
The Basque
Country
Cantabria
Asturias
Galicia
Navarra
La Rioja
Catalonia
Castile and Leon
Aragon
0
-
0
.
2
%
0
.
2
-
0
.
2
5
0
.
2
5
-
0
.
3
Madrid
0
.
3
-
0
.
3
5
0
.
3
5
-
0
.
5
Valencia
<
0
.
5
Extremadura
Castile-LaMancha
Balearic Islands
Murcia
Andalusia
Canary Islands
The Basque
Country
Cantabria
Asturias
Galicia
Navarra
La Rioja
Catalonia
Castile and Leon
Aragon
Madrid
0
-
0
.
2
%
0
.
2
-
0
.
2
5
0
.
2
5
-
0
.
3
Valencia
Extremadura
0
.
3
-
0
.
3
5
Castile-LaMancha
Balearic Islands
0
.
3
5
-
0
.
5
<
0
.
5
Murcia
Andalusia
Canary Islands
The Basque
Country
Cantabria
Asturias
Galicia
Navarra
La Rioja
Catalonia
Castile and Leon
Aragon
Madrid
0
-
0
.
2
%
0
.
2
-
0
.
2
5
0
.
2
5
-
0
.
3
Valencia
Extremadura
0
.
3
-
0
.
3
5
Castile-LaMancha
Balearic Islands
0
.
3
5
-
0
.
5
<
0
.
5
Murcia
Andalusia
Canary Islands
The Basque
Country
Cantabria
Asturias
Galicia
Navarra
La Rioja
Catalonia
Castile and Leon
Aragon
0
-
0
.
2
%
0
.
2
-
0
.
2
5
0
.
2
5
-
0
.
3
Madrid
0
.
3
-
0
.
3
5
0
.
3
5
-
0
.
5
Valencia
<
0
.
5
Extremadura
Castile-LaMancha
Balearic Islands
Murcia
Andalusia
Canary Islands
A long way to go in police complaints
It is important to notice that most of those police complaints are made by the own police officers after they have responded
to a domestic violence call. Sadly, most women that suffer violence by an intimate partner do not report, which makes it harder
to implement successful protection measures.
Asturias have the worst percentage of police complaints, with only 12% of women who had made a complaint before being murdered.
The highest percentage of complaints is hold by Extremadura where 4 out of 8 women killed had previously reported to police.
These numbers show that a police complaint doesn't always prevent another gender homicide.
Only 27% of Women Murdered Reported Partners to Police
Median value among all 927 women killed in Spain since 2006
% absence of complaint
% police complaint
Asturias
Galicia
Castile and Leon
Andalusia
Balearic Islands
Catalonia
Madrid
Murcia
Aragon
Canary Islands
The Basque Country
Castile-La Mancha
Navarra
Valencia
La Rioja
Cantabria
Extremadura
% police complaint
% absence of complaint
Asturias
Galicia
Castile and Leon
Andalusia
Balearic Islands
Catalonia
Madrid
Murcia
Aragon
Canary Islands
The Basque Country
Castile-La Mancha
Navarra
Valencia
La Rioja
Cantabria
Extremadura
% absence of complaint
% police complaint
Asturias
Galicia
Castile and Leon
Andalusia
Balearic Islands
Catalonia
Madrid
Murcia
Aragon
Canary Islands
The Basque Country
Castile-La Mancha
Navarra
Valencia
La Rioja
Cantabria
Extremadura
% police complaint
% absence of complaint
Asturias
Galicia
Castile and Leon
Andalusia
Balearic Islands
Catalonia
Madrid
Murcia
Aragon
Canary Islands
The Basque Country
Castile-La Mancha
Navarra
Valencia
La Rioja
Cantabria
Extremadura