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A deep-rooted ill in Spanish society

On a Saturday evening last spring, Juan, a short, wiry driver in his early 40s, met friends in a Madrid bar. When his money ran out, he went home for cash; his partner, watching television, refused to lend him any. Months later as he recalled his aggression against a woman he also said he loves, Juan says,“I don’t exactly know why, but I suddenly grabbed the remote control, threw it and unfortunately hit her smack on the face.”

Juan’s partner got four stitches to her forehead. She did not tell the doctor what caused the wound but, alerted by the hospital, the police showed up and detained Juan because he already had a criminal record for domestic violence. Juan still awaits a court ruling.

In the meantime, he has been ordered to stay away from his partner and is in therapy run by Asociacion Aspacia, a private group pioneering efforts to help reinsert men who abuse women into Spanish society.

As Western societies try to combat social tensions, laws have driven investigators or regulators ever deeper into spheres like the workplace, school or church. Perhaps the most difficult threshold to cross has been that of the home, where violence against women seems to defy efforts to curb it.

Last year in Spain, 73 women died at home at the hands of their partners – roughly, one every five days. That was a 32.7 per cent increase over 2009, when 55 women were killed in similar circumstances. While there is a surprising lack of comparative statistics around Europe – some countries do not keep them, while others that do keep them use different criteria – the increase in such killings in Spain flew in the face of determined government efforts to tackle what many here see as an enduring and ugly feature of their society. The Socialist government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero came to power seven years ago promising to shed Spain’s reputation as an ultraconservative and male-dominated society. He appointed equal numbers of men and women to his cabinet. But efforts to protect women have fallen below expectations. To help combat gender violence, Spain overhauled its laws in December 2004 to make it easier for victims to seek legal redress: orders for abusers to stay away from victims were strengthened, and aggressive behaviour like issuing death threats was deemed criminal.

Spanish courts have since passed 145,000 sentences against male aggressors; on average, those convicted have been sentenced to about two years in prison. In the past six years, judges also awarded special protection to almost 141,000 women, or 73 per cent of the requests. But the number of women who have abandoned legal proceedings before a final ruling, generally in physical abuse cases, has soared 46 per cent in the past three years.

Only a quarter of the women killed in 2010 had previously reported their attacker for abusive behaviour. Even women who do file reports may not get action. Below the grim statistics lies an impassioned debate about whether this society can protect women – or, indeed, weaker men. Furthermore, should society try to help women by offering treatment to men like Juan?

Aspacia, for one, struggles to persuade women’s organisations that helping aggressors is worthwhile – and has very limited financing. It hopes to treat 87 aggressors this year, thanks to a subsidy of 25,000 euros, or $34,000, from the Health Ministry. While Aspacia does not have sufficient data to establish how many abusers stop for good, it says that so far, 65 per cent of the men who have sought treatment by Aspacia have completed the programme. About 25 per cent dropped out while the rest either had their application rejected or were dropped by Aspacia because it was proving too difficult to work with them.

At a time of governmental austerity, women’s organisations are demanding that limited financing be reserved for what they see as more urgent issues, like adding psychological evaluation teams to help judges estimate the level of abuse suffered by plaintiffs.

Although at times sweating profusely when asked to detail past outbursts, Juan sounded determined. “I have to cure myself, because my behaviour has put at risk everything I care about, including the woman who’s the love of my life,” he said. “Beyond my own personal problems, this is the cancer of our society, and we really need to get rid of it.”

©IHT