Rocío isn't hiding. “If I've come this far, nothing scares me anymore,” says from the Canary Islands. Until she fled to the Afortunadas Islands, she had to survive an ordeal of almost twenty years at the hands of her husband. But now a sentence has given him more reason to keep fighting to get back two of his three children, who are with their father. “A general atmosphere of physical and verbal aggression in the home, with constant arguments, shouting, humiliation and contempt,” the judicial resolution describes, which includes some of the numerous insults and insults that Rocío has heard.
Ángel, her ex-partner, has been convicted of a crime of habitual abuse in the area of gender violence. At the trial accepted two years in prison, although the sentence is conditional, as long as it meets the conditions. One of these is taking training courses on gender violence.
This requirement will be understood as you read the judicial decision of Paula Orosa Rico, judge of the Criminal Court number 1 of Badajoz. Because the stormy relationship that Ángel and Rocío began in 2003 was anything but loving. She was 15 and he was 22 when they met. In 2005 they moved in together, got married eight years later and had three children.
“Slut, whore, you are worthless; stupid, idiot, useless, unhappy, starving,” were some of the riches this woman had to endure. “With a jealous and possessive attitude” on the part of her husband, who had control over the clothes Rocío wore. He got angry with her if she wore a plunging neckline; If she posted a photo on her WhatsApp profile where she appeared alone, without him, or if she got into a car 'with a man', that is included in the sentence.
When they argued, he would get very close to Rocío to intimidate her, 'raising his fist at her'. He physically assaulted her twice, according to the magistrate. The first was in the summer of 2005, when the two were in his car and he punched her in the nose. The second, in early 2006, during an argument at the family home. Angel got on top of her, put his fingers in her mouth and opened it forcefully. But she did not go to the doctor and did not file a complaint.
The story in the sentence describes an odious situation. “To demonstrate his authority in the house and to control Rocío,” the suspect regularly hit the furniture in the house and even broke the glass of a table seven times.
It also prevented her from working and studying outside the home, “which left her having to take care of the children and the household.” And since he was the only one with income, he managed the money and denied Rocío access to the bank account. He limited himself to giving her the amount of money she had to manage and allocate to family needs. It also limited the use of the family vehicle or required him to be the one to take her somewhere.
“He isolated her from her social and family environment, limiting her personal relationships to his family,” the magistrate said. But when she went out with her mother or a friend, Ángel would argue with Rocío, who was also not allowed to have male friends.
During the last year of the relationship, in 2019, her husband's control became increasingly intense. He stayed with her 24 hours a day, forbade her to leave the house alone, use the car and told her that she was cheating on him with another man. He even prevented him from entering the bathroom with his cell phone, demanding that he leave the door open or the device outside.
At the time of the divorce, in February 2020, her ex-husband did not make the financial contribution to support the family. He only paid the costs directly or made contributions in kind at his own discretion.
He was also looking for Rocio and her children in the city where they lived; he approached her on the street and began to walk next to her. “He tried to control her through his children, minors, whom he called day and night asking them what Rocio was doing,” the judge said.
In the same way, he threatened the woman with phrases such as “You're going to find out; this isn't going to end like this; “I'm going to ruin your life, you're a bitch”, “where are you going, starving”; “I'm going to take the children and custody away from you”… But that wasn't the only thing he said to her, usually in the presence of the three children: “You don't know what I'm capable of” or “you're going to see”. “How far I can go.”
She, who now lives and works in the Canary Islands, does not forget in this new life the association that gave her a helping hand when she needed it most: 'Mother is punished', and the volunteer lawyer Tania Álvarez. Rocio laughs again.