The Head of the Coordination Unit Against Violence Against Women of the Government Delegation, Laura Segura, has warned that summer is “the most dangerous period for women, especially for women who experience gender violence in their daily lives, in their homes.”
In an interview given to Televisión Melilla, Segura recalled that the months of June, July and August concentrate the highest number of complaints of gender violence in the city. “The year 2024 ended with more than 60% of the number of women killed specifically in the summer period,” he said. Although at the national level the most critical month is usually July, in Melilla “the month of August is specifically the month in which we are observing more complaints. Last year we ended August with almost 29 complaints.”
The Head of the Unit has pointed out that, during the summer months, several risk factors are aggravated: the aggressor spends more time alone with the victim, habitual protective spaces such as work or the nearby social circle disappear, and tensions increase in the home. “The abuser has the possibility of being alone with the victim much longer,” he warned. To this is added the school holiday period: “The children are also on vacation and then there are moments of greater coexistence and, in turn, also moments of greater tension.”
Faced with this scenario, he has stressed the importance of strengthening prevention and protection measures, especially with the recent entry into force of the new protocol of action for the State Security Forces on gender violence. “It is essential to redouble our efforts and apply all available resources at this delicate time,” he said.
First semester balance of 2025
Regarding the evolution of this year, the head of the Unit has indicated that a stable average is maintained. “This year we are having a fairly continuous average in the number of complaints,” which makes a difference from previous years. “In other years, especially in the previous three years, we observed that the month of February and the month of January and March saw the data drop.”
However, he has warned that in recent weeks a slight upturn has been detected: “We are starting June and it is true that right now we are observing that we practically have a daily complaint.”
New protocol
The Head of the Unit also highlighted the entry into force of the new protocol for police action in cases of gender violence, promoted by the Ministry of the Interior, which reforms the functioning of the VioGén system and improves the monitoring of active cases.
“Now all risk assessments will have a more continuous follow-up and the level of ‘unappreciated risk’ disappears, which will be considered as low risk,” he said. This amendment will allow for greater institutional control and will strengthen the monitoring of protection measures already granted to victims.
The new measures, he said, will allow “to have greater control over the situation of the cases that are active”, as well as “more continuous assessments” and a reinforcement in the supervision of those cases without judicial protection measures.
The social environment, key in detection
Finally, Segura has highlighted the fundamental role of society in detecting signs of abuse. “Awareness is fundamental. Talk to citizens, carry out activities and awareness campaigns so that all citizens have these alerts”, he stressed.
In this regard, he has insisted that leisure spaces and networks of trust can be key to alert to a situation of violence: “May we in these spaces also be the ones who raise their voices and give that cry of alarm.” And it ended with a clear message: “A gesture, a call, a word in time can save a life.”