The number of women killed by their husband or the fiancé in Spain, hit 46 in 2017 with an increase of two deaths from last year, according to the Spanish Health Ministry.
Last week, the province of Coruña, northern Spain, saw the latest crime this year when a 47-year-old man killed his wife, 42, and then committed suicide. The wife had separated from him after filing an abuse complaint against him.
Ana Mato, Health Minister, has stressed the importance of tightening control on men who assault their wives or fiancées, and called to penalize them severely. She also urged abused women to file a complaints in courts.
"Filing a complaint before courts is not the responsibility of oppressed women only, but also the responsibility of the entire community.”
According to the ministry's report, only eight of the killed women had filed a complaint against their husbands. It also showed that among the 46 killers, 36 were Spanish and 10 were foreigners.
It is worth noting that the woman who files an abuse complaint against her husband or fiancé receives a personal mobile phone that directly contacts the concerned authorities in cases of violence.
The number of violence-related calls since September has so far reached 12,360 calls. Another phone line “016”, which has been also dedicated for women in general, in case they were abused by anyone, received 60531 calls within the last nine months.
An under-study bill aiming to curb violence against women is being prepared by the parliament.
The bill, which will be implemented within five years, is expected to receive a one billion euro fund.
It is known that the number of women killed by their husband or their fiancé in Spain since 2003 has reached 918 victims.
