Seven women murdered this July that ended yesterday. Almost two every week of the month that, historically, records the most sexist crimes: 126 in the last twenty years. The last one, a 29-year-old girl allegedly murdered by her partner, who has already been arrested. He stabbed her to death. There were no previous complaints of gender violence against the alleged aggressor.
This is the second murder in Catalonia in just two days after the murder in Girona of another 27-year-old girl, at the hands of her ex-partner, who confessed to the facts. Her name was Carla, she was a receptionist and she only had a brief relationship with her alleged murderer. But, apparently, he did not settle. He killed her at the young woman's home, where they found her handcuffed. She died strangled. She is also the seventh woman murdered so far in 2023 in Catalonia.
Seven murders in 31 days have led the Ministry of Equality to convene the crisis committee, made up of the ministerial heads and those of the autonomous communities. They will do so today given the harsh records of sexist violence since the beginning of the summer: nine women murdered since the beginning of the summer season, of the 31 confirmed so far this year.
Although the number of murdered could increase to eight. A 22-year-old girl was found dead yesterday in her home in Utrera, Seville. Death was caused by a strong blow to the head of the victim. The Civil Guard arrested the victim's husband in the afternoon, whose whereabouts were unknown, so the case is being treated as possible sexist violence. "All hypotheses are open," they said.
The woman's body was located at 6 in the morning at her home by the sister of the deceased, who notified the Civil Guard. The victim, of Nicaraguan origin, had not requested help from social services in relation to alleged ill-treatment, according to municipal sources.
The data is stubborn. Gender violence exists and is more aggressive and deadly in the months in which coexistence is greater (summer and Christmas). The heat also influences, which alters the mood.
But, although this may explain the increase in murders in July, the vast majority insist that it has a lot to do with the latest conservative wave that tries to camouflage gender violence in the generalist bag of intrafamily violence (although it does not exist from the point of view legal).
"There is an attempt to relegate sexist violence, to hide it, but the reality cannot be hidden," says Miguel Lorente, an expert in this field and a collaborator with the Gender Violence Observatory of the General Council of the Judiciary.
The CC.OO Secretary for Women and Equality manifests itself along the same lines. from Seville, Pepa Bermudo, who believes that "the resurgence of machismo and denialism, which are promoted by governments that rely on the extreme right, is giving wings to murderers", and considers "inadmissible that, in a democratic society and advanced, certain speeches reinforce the violent”.
Among these sectors, which include the far-right Vox party and some members of the PP (in the last few hours the popular mayor of Ribadesella, in Asturias, has denied sexist violence), there are also those who question the law against violence of gender of 2004. In this sense, Lorente recalls that this norm has contributed to the fact that there have been 24 fewer homicides each year, which represents a decrease of 45.7% compared to the initial situation.
Despite the fact that the last two murders have killed women under 30 years of age, so far this year the majority of the victims were between 31 and 40 years old (42%), followed by those between 41 and 50 years (29%). The community with the most fatal cases is Andalusia, with 8 (pending the investigation of the young woman who appeared in Utrera) and Catalonia, with 7.
Only 22.6% of the victims had denounced it, which shows, according to the experts, that gender violence is widespread. The number of those requesting protection decreases, while the number of men who after committing the murder decide to commit suicide to avoid social ridicule also decreases (16.1%).
