A woman is raped ‘every six hours’ in Spain according to Spanish minister

ONE woman is raped somewhere in Spain every six hours on average, according to a report from the country’s Interior Ministry.
There were a total of 788 rapes in Spain from January to June this year. The Interior Ministry’s report showed the rate was a 28.5 per cent increase on levels seen at the same time last year.
The total number of complaints of sexual assaults more broadly stood at 5,731 for the first half of this year. The same figure for January to June last year was 5,083, an increase of almost 13 per cent.
Yolanda Besteiro, Chairperson of the Federation of the Progressive Women of Spain, said Spanish society often blamed women for attacks rather than perpetrators.
“According to our culture if an attack occurs it is because the woman has not known how to defend herself, or has dressed in a certain way or gotten into the wrong area,” Besteiro said.
“Despite the increase in the number of complaints we barely know the tip of the iceberg of the phenomenon of sexual assaults as only around 30 per cent of violations are reported,” she added.
Government statistics have also shown that a total of 950 women have been killed in gender violence-related incidents since records began in 2003. A total of 26 have died this year, the latest of which was in A Coruña.
Carmen Calvo, Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister and Equality Minister, said she condemned the A Coruña killing and all those that had taken place in Spain.
“Still some question the urgency of the State Pact against Gender Violence. Do not make politics out of tragedies,” Calvo said.
Calvo’s comments are partly in reference to criticism from the leader of the conservative Partido Popular (PP) Pablo Casado over the State Pact.
He claimed it suffered from “serious legal defects” and that it may be unconstitutional due to it having being passed without Parliamentary approval. Casado has threatened to take the matter to Spain’s Supreme Court.

Author badge placeholder
Written by

Euro Weekly News Media

Share your story with us by emailing newsdesk@euroweeklynews.com, by calling +34 951 38 61 61 or by messaging our Facebook page www.facebook.com/EuroWeeklyNews

Comments