Complaints of gender violence in Melilla have increased by 14.44%, from 277 complaints in 2022 to 317 in 2023. This was explained by the Head of the Coordination Unit Against Violence against Women, Laura Segura, in a public appearance in which she took stock of the situation in our city in this matter.
“Mistreatment at the level of the couple, as well as the violation of removal orders have been fundamentally the reasons for most of the complaints,” he revealed, while explaining that 63% of the women who complained had sons and daughters, 76.34% being Spanish, and the relationship with the aggressor being mostly that of a spouse and in a minor case they are ex-partners.
Going into detail in what has been last year 2023, it has indicated that the first quarter was closed with 66 complaints, the second quarter recorded 75; 101 in the third; and 75 in the fourth quarter.
The head of the Unit stressed that, among the main objectives on gender violence raised by the Government Delegation, they are continuing to improve coordination and institutional response to women suffering from gender violence and to bring protection resources closer to victims, increasing information, dissemination and awareness spaces, as well as promoting professional specialized training.
He stressed that “we have worked intensively to address all male violence against women, beyond those exercised in the context of the couple or former couple, such as the trafficking of women and girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation, sexual exploitation, sexual assault, prostitution or forced marriages, and to pay special attention to the most vulnerable female victims and their minor sons and daughters.”
Segura explained that the Unit has disseminated the various studies published on gender violence, monthly statistical bulletins and activities and training sessions of interest on violence against women.
At the same time, he highlighted the continuity and work of the follow-up tables, “since they are fundamental organs for the sharing and coordination, of all the agents involved.” On the other hand, the continuity of the Bureau of associations and NGOs, “which is a fundamental space for proposals for improvement, detection and prevention in situations of gender violence, but, above all, in other forms of violence against women,” he said.
“The Police Coordination Table, which has been convened by this Unit, is of special interest since in 2020 we carried out the updating of the Protocol of Collaboration and Coordination between the State Security Forces and Bodies in Melilla and the Local Police of the Autonomous City of Melilla, for the protection and follow-up of victims of gender violence,” he said.
Segura, in her speech, also wanted to highlight the joint work that has been carried out with the Educational Programs Unit (UPE) of the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports (MEFpyD), being fundamental the coordination and activities carried out with the people responsible for Equality of the different centers of the city.
She also wanted to have words of recognition for the work carried out by the State Security Forces and Bodies, Local Police, Court, Prosecutor’s Office, Bar Association and the Center for Information and Integral Attention to Women, as well as by all the institutions involved, whose collaboration in this fight is “key”, she acknowledged.
Calls and protection measures
In her speech to the media Laura Segura has detailed the calls that have been made to the 016 service. Thus, since the launch of this telephone legal advice and information service on gender violence in September 2007 and until 31 December 2023, relevant calls have been received in Melilla in 1992.
Last year 2023, 131 calls were made, of which 103 were made by the user herself (78.63%), 23 by relatives or close associates (17.55%), 3 by others (2.29%) and 2 not recorded (1.52%). “The total represents a decrease of 16.56% with respect to the year 2022 in which 157 calls were registered,” he said.
With regard to the Telephone Service for Care and Protection for Victims of Gender Violence (ATENPRO), the number of users active in the Internet since 2005 and until December 31, 2023 has been 193.
The year 2023 has been closed with 19 active users, which implies an increase of 5.56% compared to the year 2022, in which there were 18 users of this service.
As for women with police protection, the number of women with active cases with an appreciable level of risk, as of December 31, 2023, was 113. This translates into an increase of 1.8% compared to December 2022 in which they were 111.
And in terms of the number of protection orders and measures for gender violence from January to September 2023, the total figure that has been given is 59 orders initiated, of which 51 were adopted and 8 were denied. The year 2022 ended with 76 adoptions, according to statistics from the General Council of the Judiciary.
225 cases in VioGen
The Head of Unit has also provided VioGén’s data. According to December data, published on the website of the Ministry of the Interior in its monthly statistics, Melilla closed the year with 225 active cases.
With regard to risk levels, 112 active cases are of unappreciated risk; 90, of low irrigation; 23, of medium risk; and no case of high risk or extreme risk.
To the 225 cases active in the VioGén System in Melilla as of December 31, 2023, we must add the 2,180 cases inactivated from 2007 to this date, which makes a total of 2,405 total cases and 2,232 total victims in our city from 2007 to the present, women who at some point have been maltreated and have required protection of some kind.
The number of 225 active cases as of December 31, 2023, represents an increase of 15.38% compared to December 2022, which had 195 and an increase of 2.27% compared to November 2023, with 220.
Cases involving minors account for 142, of which 25 are in a vulnerable situation, and 19 are cases of special relevance.
Continuing with the balance sheet, Segura has reported the number of inmates serving sentences in penitentiary centers at the end of 2023 whose number is 12, compared to the 11 with which it was closed in 2022.
In her appearance, the Head of the Unit stressed that in terms of the shelters for women and their sons and daughters, during the year 2023 in the two resources managed by the Red Cross 60 people have been served - 23 women, 18 girls and 19 children - and in the reception apartment managed from Women in Equality 31 people have been served - 9 women and 22 minors.
Although during the past year there were no machista murders in Melilla, Segura has recalled that at the national level, 2023 was closed with 58 women killed by their partners or former partners and 57 minors orphaned and orphaned by gender violence. To which must be added two minor fatalities, “killed to cause the greatest harm to their mothers”.
Thus, to date, 1,243 women have been killed by their partners or former partners since official figures were obtained and 52 children have been killed since children and girls began to be counted as victims of Gender Violence, as well as 434 children who have been orphaned and orphaned by the murder of their mothers.
Finally, Laura Segura recalled that the majority of gender-based violence is not reported and stressed that it is necessary “to detect this structural violence, which is male violence from other areas such as social services, educational centers or health care.”
“We must continue to make progress in improving detection mechanisms and prevention, as well as strengthen confidence in the system and counteract the denial discourse that jeopardizes the progress made and puts women’s lives at risk,” he concluded.