In 2024, a homicide related to gender-based violence was committed every 7.6 days. In other words, a woman was murdered by her partner or ex-partner every week, resulting in a total of 48 femicides by the end of the year. Although this number represents the lowest level since such cases began being recorded in 2003, Esther Erice, president of the Observatory against Domestic and Gender-Based Violence of the General Council of Justice (CGPJ), called on Monday for redoubling efforts to end gender-based violence. In her opinion, the available data are “inadequate” for a developed country like Spain. She made this statement during the presentation of the report on deaths from gender-based and domestic violence in 2024, which also pointed out that last year was a particularly tragic year for violence against women, with nine minor children murdered.
According to the report, only 31% of the murdered women (15) had previously filed a complaint against their attacker. However, Erice emphasized that this “does not mean that they had a pending case, as it could be another case that was either filed or had already resulted in a conviction.” Furthermore, in eight of the 15 reported cases, the woman continued to live with the attacker, and in five cases, a restraining order was in effect. The Observatory’s president also highlighted demographic data, as a quarter of the cases (12 out of 48) occurred in small towns with 10,000 to 25,000 inhabitants. For Erice, this figure highlights the need to strengthen “institutional and interinstitutional efforts” as well as social support for women in smaller towns, who are particularly vulnerable due to their territorial characteristics (fewer support services and greater social pressure).
The home remains the most dangerous place for women victims of gender-based violence: 75% of femicides in 2024 were committed within their own homes. This trend is consistent throughout the entire historical period and, for Erice, demonstrates the importance of collaboration with the victim’s environment to prevent femicides.
These data contrast sharply with the statistics on homicides due to domestic violence, also included in the report presented on Monday at the CGPJ headquarters. These statistics include homicides of men by women or of same-sex partners and ex-partners. In 2024, there were four homicides of men by their partners or ex-partners (none of them in same-sex relationships), resulting in a total of 121 deaths due to domestic violence since 2009 (7.6 victims per year). “There is a very significant difference in the number of women who die at the hands of men,” emphasized the president of the Observatory, who also explained that there was no prior complaint in any of these cases.
Regarding vicarious violence, CGPJ member Esther Rojo deplored the “particularly tragic” year of 2024, in which nine minors were murdered, representing the highest number in the entire historical series and bringing the total to 62 victims since 2013. The report estimates the number of vicarious perpetrators at six, who were partners or ex-partners of the children’s mothers, with the victims’ biological fathers responsible in the vast majority of cases (85.5%). Around 74% of the children killed were under 10 years old.
In terms of the methods used, while the knife (35% of cases) was, on average, the most common weapon since 2013, it was used in only one case in 2024. In the remaining cases, suffocation, poisoning, shooting, or beatings occurred. Furthermore, 83% of the perpetrators had already received complaints from their partners or ex-partners, and nearly 46% committed suicide after the crime (23 percentage points higher than for femicides). “I would like to point out that this is the highest percentage of prior complaints in the historical series since 2013,” Rojo said, calling the data “striking” because it represents a significant increase compared to the 35.4% for the entire historical series.
