Barcelona Metropolis

One in five women in the world has suffered sexual abuse in childhood and one in three has been the victim of physical or sexual violence. These are the figures quoted in the 2014 World Health Organization report pertaining to these forms of violence.

In Catalonia, the figures are also serious. According to the 2016 Survey on Violence Against Women in Catalonia, more than half of the women in Barcelona have suffered from violence in their lifetime and one in three has been the victim of aggravated assault. In addition, one in six women experienced violence in childhood.

More than 1,000 women murdered

By June 2019, 1,000 women had been killed by their intimate partners or former intimate partners since 2003, when the figure began to be officially recorded. And by 30 September, the total number of women killed had risen to 1,021. Catalonia, with 156 deaths since 2003, is one of the autonomous communities with the lowest prevalence (one per thousand).

Violence against women during their lifetime

More than half of the women in Barcelona of any age (from childhood to adulthood) has been the victim of gender-based violence at some point in their lives (57.7%) and one in three has suffered very serious acts of violence (31%), such as rape, violent physical assault, violent touching, threats of retaliation or taking children away without consent.

In 2016, 13.8% of Barcelona’s female residents experienced some form of violence against women (without taking remarks, sexual gestures and exhibitionism into account), while 2.3% of women suffered very serious acts of violence.

The profile of a woman suffering gender-based violence

Women aged 16 to 29 are the most stricken. In 2016, victimisation among this age group was more than twice the city’s average (29.4% compared to 13.8% on average in Barcelona). By origin, there is a greater prevalence of gender-based violence among foreign women, followed by those born in Catalonia. By level of education, the prevalence is higher among the most educated women, with higher education, although in 2016 the most victimised were women with compulsory secondary education or basic education.

Intimate partner or former intimate partner violence and violence against children

Thirty-seven per cent of women over 15 living in Barcelona have suffered some form of violence perpetrated by their former or current intimate partner at some point in their lives. Almost half of Barcelona’s female residents who have been in a relationship (43.3%) have suffered violence committed by their former intimate partners. And 12.8% of Barcelona’s female residents in a relationship have suffered gender-based violence within their current relationship.

Violence perpetrated by former intimate partners has led to the deterioration of the economic situation of the women affected in 43.8% of cases, 21.2% have had to change their place of residence, 20.6% have suffered more isolation and loneliness, 19% improved the security measures in their homes, 16% had to quit their job and 14.6% requested sick leave as a result of violence.

Violence against children was higher in cases of women who had suffered violence perpetrated by their former intimate partner. Of the women who had suffered violence committed by their former intimate partner, 31.4% had children or minors living in the home and the violence directly affected these children in 22.4% of cases. In 34.7% of homes with intimate partner violence, there were minors and they suffered violence in 6.2% of cases.

Violence against women in the social and family environment

More than half of Barcelona female residents (56.8%) has suffered an assault by someone known or unknown to them (excluding intimate partners or former intimate partners and co-workers) at some point in their lifetime. Sexual assaults or harassment mainly occur in public places, and most often take the form of remarks, sexual gestures or exhibitionism (89.1%) and inappropriate touching (41.8%).

Evolution of reports filed

The number of gender-based violence reports filed has been growing, according to the General Council of the Judiciary. Among the mortal victims between 2013 and 2019, around one in five women (21% in Spain and 20% in Catalonia and in Barcelona) had filed reports.

One in five women who have suffered former-intimate partner violence (20.2%) claim to have filed reports, while assaults in childhood or in the social and family environment only amount to 4.2% and 4.3% of those stricken, respectively. Minimising the assault or not identifying it as such is the main reason why women claim not to file reports (53.5%). Feelings of guilt or shame (14.2%), fear (13.4%) and the duration or the ins and outs of the reporting procedure (12%) are other reasons for not filing a report.

More than half of the women assaulted by former intimate partners in their lifetime (59.8%) and those affected in the family environment (54.1%) considered the violence suffered to be a criminal offence. In the case of childhood violence, 42.6% did consider it a criminal act, while 22.3% did not recognise it as such at that time but do so today.