The Head of the Coordination Unit against Violence against Women of the Government Delegation in Melilla, Laura Segura, has warned of the increased risk faced by women victims of gender violence during the summer months, especially July and August, which she considers the “most dangerous” period of the year.
“Every year, when the summer date approaches, summer above all, the months of June, July and August, we make an appeal to society. Not only to the victims, we appeal to the citizens, warning of the risk that women victims of gender violence run, who are obviously always at risk”, said Segura in an interview granted to Onda Cero.
As he has explained, at this time there are circumstances that aggravate the situation of the victims. “Fundamentally because coexistence becomes greater, vacation periods arrive and women stop being in spaces that are sometimes also spaces of protection, such as those in the workplace, where they can have safety circles,” he said. In addition, he added that “women have more freedom on vacation, because we make decisions, and all these decision-making are also a loss of power on the part of the aggressors.”
Segura has stressed that “it is the period in which we have the highest number of women killed, always, every year”. In fact, he recalled that in 2024 “61% of the murdered victims were killed in this summer period, and specifically the maximum, in July”. A trend that, he has warned, is repeated again in 2025: “This June we have started it terribly, with a very tragic month.”
So far this year, 22 women have been murdered in Spain by their partners or ex-partners. “But we have to go further. There are 22 abusers, 22 aggressors, who have decided to kill their women. And every year we have new aggressors. That is the average we have in our country: 60 women killed a year,” he said, stressing that “if a single woman in our country is abused, we must continue to act.”
Despite the data, Segura also wanted to highlight the impact of public policies: “We have to send a message that equal policies, policies against gender violence, are saving lives.” He acknowledged that “we do not get where we should go”, but stressed that “we see that the numbers of women killed are reduced, even though they are still terrible”, while at the same time “increasing the number of complaints” and social awareness.
Also in Melilla, the summer months reflect this upturn. “The summer months, precisely July and August, are the months in which we contemplate the most complaints”, he assured and as he recalled, “last August there were 31 complaints. We’re talking about practically a daily report.”
The Head of Unit has pointed out that “society is moved when a victim is killed, but we have to make it known to the citizens that this is the tip of the iceberg.” “There is a whole sea of machismo, a sea of violence, and we cannot end this iceberg of violence by hammering. We have to merge that sea of machismo to end the situations of inequality that can ultimately lead to the most extreme violence,” he warned.
Only 25% report
Segura has warned of the very low percentage of women who report situations of gender violence, which prevents many of them from accessing the protection and support resources available. According to him, of the 22 women killed so far this year, only three had a prior complaint, “two by the victim himself and one by relatives or by police attestation.”
“This is the reality of gender-based violence: 20-25% are reported,” she said. A figure that he considers very alarming and that reflects that “gender violence is not denounced”. This, he stressed, has direct consequences on the effectiveness of protection mechanisms: “Without a complaint, there is no possibility of taking action by the justice system.”
Segura has insisted on the need for public administrations to adapt their approach: “From the Administrations we are looking at what we must do to reach those women who are not reporting. Because all the doors of accompaniment, of help to the victims, are opened especially when a complaint has been filed.”
In this regard, it has called for alternative mechanisms such as the administrative accreditation of gender violence, a tool that allows victims to access social assistance without having filed a prior complaint. “If we expose women to only being able to report and only in that way we offer help, we have to be very clear that we are not going to get to them, because not everyone wants to report or not everyone can report,” he said.
The reasons why many women do not report are diverse. “Fear is obviously one of them,” explained Segura, but he also highlighted another worrying reason revealed in the 2019 macrosurvey, which is none other than the fact that the victim thinks that it is a problem of them and that they can solve it. “And this should concern us as a society,” he said.
Trivialization of violence
The head of the Coordination Unit has drawn attention to an additional problem: the growing social banalisation of gender violence. “If society does not see gender-based violence as a problem, the victims clearly reaffirm that it is a problem that they must solve alone. The message has to be another: that this is a problem for the whole of society and that it destroys us as a society.”
In this regard, he cited the latest data from the Center for Sociological Research (CIS) of 2025, according to which gender violence concerns only 0.1% of women and 0.2% of men in Spain. “In other words, society is not concerned about gender-based violence,” she lamented.
He has also warned of the regression in the perception of youth: “There are more boys, but also young girls who think that gender violence does not exist. That’s really worrying.”
On the protection system, he highlighted that the VioGén system currently follows some 240 women in Melilla, 80% of them with minors in their care. “If we only report 25%, how many women are in our city right now suffering from gender-based violence? And how many boys and girls are living in violence in their homes?”
Despite the seriousness of the data, Segura has pointed out that Melilla has not registered fatalities due to gender violence in recent years. Since 2003, the city has counted five women killed in the area of the couple or ex-couple, a figure lower than the national average. However, he recalled that femicides committed outside this area were not included in the data until recently, which could increase the total.
In Spain as a whole, 1,316 women have been murdered for gender violence since 2003. “If five footballers or five civil guards were murdered in our country, we would be on a national alert. And yet, we normalize the killing of women,” he concluded.