SMALL INCREASE IN CASES OF GENDER VIOLENCE

Despite an overall increase of 2% in the number of reported cases it is gratifying to note that, so far this year, there have been no deaths in Almeria accredited to Gender Violence. Experts say that this is because of the excellent work of the security forces as well as the loss of fear of many women in reporting such incidents.

The news is particularly optimistic if one considers that the province of Almería has actually led the country in the number of deaths from male violence against their wives and partners in the past two years. Indeed the first 10 months of 2011 saw 4 deaths from such aggression.

Concha Reyes is the coordinator of the Domestic Violence Unit in Almería. She says that the situation is very complex and a single death will change the picture but while she has her fingers crossed she congratulated the security forces on the great work they are carrying out in this area.

It is not easy to find many positives when talking about violence and the subject should always treated with due caution, but the province of Almeria has many positives to highlight with more than ten months having passed since it last recorded a fatality in Almeria, the death of 33 year old IG, a Russian national, who was killed in Roquetas de Mar on December 26, 2011. Since then there have been a number of cases of violence, but none has seen a tragic end.

However Reyes says that the downside are the figures collected by her organization from the National Police, Civil Guard and local police which point to a 2% increase in the number of new complaints received in the first ten months of the year many of which can be attributed to the current economic crisis.

From 1 January to 30 September in the current reporting year there have been 1379 reports of gender violence in the province, while in the same period in 2010 there were 1,350 and in 2011 the number was 1309. So far this year, courts and security forces are receiving an average of four complaints every day. “This is a slight increase from the figures of previous years, indicating some loss of fear on the part of women in reporting their aggressors,” says the head of the Family service (SAF) of the National Police in Almería.

According to the Domestic Violence Monitoring System in the Ministry of the Interior, there has also been a slight decrease in the number of protection orders issued following allegations. Of the 1379 reported cases there have been 637 orders of protection issued, compared to 664 that were issued in 2011.

As for the age of women reporting abuse, most are in the 25-34 and 35-44 years age groups. Amongst the attackers, however, the age range of most is between 25 and 55, in many cases the man being a few years older than his victim.

In the first nine months of 2012 there have been eleven cases of violence against children, with three assailants under 18 years of age

Most cases of violence occur between married couples, followed by violence between partners and then against former partners. So far this year there has been a slight increase in the number of women of foreign nationality who have denounced aggressors. 52% come from overseas while the remaining 48% of the women were born in Spain.