Three murderers and six murders in the last 24 hours. That is the number of sexist violence on Saturday, June 29. A man who hacked his wife and two children, aged five and seven, to pieces in Las Pedroñeras (Cuenca). Another man who shot his ex-partner, aged 20, and her mother, 45, in Zafarraya (Granada). And a third who strangled his partner and then tried to commit suicide, in Fuengirola. It is the day with the most crimes resulting from this violence so far this year – three for gender violence and three mentioned vicarious gender violence– and also one of the days with the highest concentration in the shortest time since records have been available, in 2003. And if the murder of the two minors is officially confirmed, 2024 will now be equal to the only other year in the historical series with the same number of boys and girls murdered by their father or their mother's partner: nine.
Last year, when July ended, and it happened with eight women murdered, the Ministry of Equality recalled the “high concentration” of sexist crimes that take place when summer arrives, as well as during other holiday periods; the greater time that aggressors spend at home or with their family is a risk factor. “The months of July are the months with the most casualties.” of the entire historical series', the then government delegate against gender violence, Victoria Rosell, repeatedly recalled the need to be 'particularly alert'. Now, at the end of June, it has happened again.
The two that took place in Andalusia did so “seven hours apart,” the government delegate in Andalusia, Pedro Fernández, explained on Saturday. The first of these, in the city of Fuengirola in Malaga, this Friday evening around 11.15 pm. Initial hypotheses indicate that he strangled her and then attempted suicide by taking pills. The couple came from Córdoba, although they lived in that city in Malaga and his age is not yet known, but hers is 76 years old.
“In this case he is a well-known author, he had left a written letter,” Fernández also said, confirming that in this case, as in the case of the city of Granada, “there were no previous complaints or actions related to the VioGén system.” That of monitoring the victims of this violence in which three out of four do not report for various reasons, for fear of the aggressor, of not being believed or the consequences that this may have on their sons and daughters.
In Zafarraya, the city of Granada, Laura's ex-boyfriend, 33, entered the house where she, 20, lived with her mother, 49, this Saturday morning and shot them both. He then committed suicide. “It seems that he had keys to the house because of the relationship they had. We must appeal to all of us to continue in this fight that must be continuous on the part of all institutions and all political parties against gender violence,” concluded Fernández, the deputy for Andalusia.
The last one known this Saturday, that of Las Pedroñeras, in Cuenca, is still not known when it took place. The Civil Guard found the dismembered bodies of a woman and her two children in a house in that city this morning, reportedly at the hands of the victims’ partner and father, who have been arrested. A relative of the woman reported her disappearance Friday afternoon, so officers activated the search and found the three dismembered bodies in a house next door to the one where the woman lived.
This year, seven boys and girls have already been murdered by their parents, nine if the two minors from Las Pedroñeras are officially confirmed. As of June 29, 2024 would be equal to 2015, the only year since there was a record (in 2013) that counts that figure; and at the beginning of this year, between January and April, became the shortest period with the most murders of minors because of sexist violence in the historical series after four fathers murdered their daughters and sons.
When the sexist nature of these murders is officially confirmed, 19 women will be murdered in Spain due to gender violence in 2024, and 1,263 since 2003, when official statistics began. And Laura's mother, the twenty-year-old woman murdered in Zafarraya, would become part of the femicide statistics that began in 2022 and that Up to March last year, 56 women were murdered outside the sphere of their partner or ex-partner..
The Minister of Equality, Ana Redondo, announced in statements to the SER channel that a crisis committee has been convened next week to analyze these “terrible” murders, and has filed a denunciation of the denial speeches that “feed hatred” of gender violence.” Redondo indicated that it is a day to reflect and move forward with all the means and mechanisms that this society has at its disposal to “eradicate this enormous problem.” “We must strengthen the mechanisms, tools and environments that see this murderous violence,” said Redondo, who stressed that “sometimes we do not talk to the victim, but let it happen.”
That the environment is alert is something that institutions have been asking for for years. Last year, in September, a dozen men murdered their partners or ex-partners, it was the month with the most sexist crimes so far this year and one of the worst in the historical series –only ten other months since 2003 have recorded the same casualties—; Following this series of crimes, the Government Delegation against Gender Violence has appealed to families and neighbors, friends or anyone close to these women who knows anything, to take action. In some of those cases, said Ángela Rodríguez, then Secretary of State for Equality, “the environment knew the situation and the neighbors knew what was happening.” “When they suspect, when they see [que se está produciendo violencia]then report it to 016, or if it is an emergency, to 112,” he asked.
Telephone 016 is available to victims of sexist violence, their families and their environment 24 hours a day, every day of the year, in 53 different languages. The number is not registered on the telephone bill, but the call must be deleted from the device. You can also contact us by e-mail 016-online@igualdad.gob.es and via WhatsApp on 600 000 016. Minors can contact the ANAR Foundation on telephone number 900 20 20 10. In the event of an emergency, you can call 112 or the telephone numbers of the National Police (091) and the Civil Guard (062). ). . And if you cannot make a call, you can use the ALERTCOPS application, from which an alert signal with geolocation is sent to the police.