Anna Martínez, journalist
Motivated by structural reasons the femicide is the murder of women and girls for the sole reason of being girls and women and it’s based in a power structure and contempt of men towards women.
At the governmental level, the registry of murders of women in Spain has been carried out since 2003, but these only included femicides within the scope of the partner or ex-partner, by virtue of Law 1/2004 against gender violence, leaving out the victims of sexist crimes, whether due to family, vicarious or sexual violence. Since 2022, all femicides have been counted.
As of November 8, and according to the data consulted in Feminicidio.net, 82 women have been murdered so far this year in Spain. Feminicidio.net is an observatory of organized civil society, born with the aim of documenting femicide and promote a space for collaboration between civil society, academia and institutions. Since 2010, this observatory has been documenting the femicides that occur in Spain and since then, they have produced annual reports, counting to date 1,559 women murdered by men.
In the last report corresponding to the year 2023, 103 femicides were documented, a figure that compared to the previous year means a steady increase since 2021, when 83 women were murdered.
Figures by Autonomous Communities in 2023
In absolute data, Andalucía was the Autonomous Community with the highest number of victims: 27, followed by the Community of Madrid, with 15, and Catalonia, with 14. The sum of these three communities (56) represented more than half of the femicides that occurred in the whole of Spain.
With respect to the prevalence rate (incidence of femicides in relation to the population of the community) Andalusia also remained in first place, followed by other communities such as La Rioja, the Canary Islands and Galicia.
In terms of seasonality, the summer months, as well as January, saw more fatalities. The monthly average was 8.6 cases, which meant more than 2 cases per week.
Feminicidio.net offers much more data such as the typology and context of femicide, the profile of the victim and perpetrator, and other data that, for example, show a worrying trend such as the current spike in annual victims that has been occurring since 2021, which requires urgent action.
How to tackle femicides
Undoubtedly, the more information and data we have, the more possibilities we will have to better address femicides. Despite legislative advances, it is necessary to offer a multidisciplinary response. Some aspects of the report that should be better addressed are the continued trivialization of male violence. Failures in the protection system. Greater financial resources and more forceful legislative changes. Focus on prevention and awareness-raising. Or betting on a real coeducation for equality, among other aspects. All this for the right to a life free of male violence for all. Not one less!
