Spain to officially count all femicides, claims first country in Europe to do so

Spain claims that it will expand the official statistics on gender-based violence in the country to examine the killings of women and children by men regardless of whether the victim and perpetrator had a prior relationship or not, as per the reports of the Guardian. Irene Montero, who is Spain's equality minister, stated that they must acknowledge all victims and make visible all forms of violence, including sexist homicides, in order to implement measures for prevention, early detection and eradication.

She also stated that the importance of early detection cannot be overstated. She urged people who suspect there is a woman who may be in a violent circumstance should contact her, according to La Moncloa. Montero has stressed that all women understand that they are not alone and that combating sexist violence is a matter of state.

The first country in Europe to formally count all femicides

Montero said that the new system for counting femicides will go into effect in 2022, making Spain the first country in Europe to formally count all femicides. She stated that there will be an official and institutional observatory to count femicides, sexist murders of women killed because they are women. She further stated that they are going to be the first country in Europe to officially count all femicides, calling the measure the most basic exercise of reparation for victims of male violence.

It will go into effect on Saturday, January 1st, to encompass the murder of any woman or kid in which gender is found to have played a part. According to the Guardian, every case will be investigated, and the statistics will be divided into five categories, ranging from killings related to sexual exploitation, trafficking or prostitution to the killing of minors both boys and girls and examine if the crime is believed to have been committed with the intent to harm them.

43 women murdered in 2021

Government statistics suggest that at least 1,125 women have been murdered by their spouses or ex-partners in Spain since 2003, with at least 43 women murdered in 2021. Protesters flocked to the streets across the country in June after the body of a six-year-old girl was discovered at sea, believed to have been murdered by her father. An investigating judge later claimed that the father killed the girl and her one-year-old sibling in order to bring their mother "the greatest anguish possible," according to the Guardian.

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