Instrumentalised animal abuse in contexts of gender-based and domestic violence: the case of Spain.

• In Event: Gender, Crime and Justice Working Group Panel 8: Contextual variants in domestic abuse (I)

Abstract

Animal abuse is frequently used as a violent means to harm the human victim in contexts of gender-based or domestic violence. In this paper I address this issue, focusing on the Spanish case. Firstly, based on a literature review, I reflect on the different ways in which animal abuse is used as an instrument in gender-based and domestic violence contexts, mainly as a form of coercion or psychological harm to the human victim. I then analyse the treatment that Spanish jurisprudence has given to this criminal phenomenon in recent years. On this basis, I finally conclude with a reflection on the treatment that the Spanish Criminal Code gives to this matter, concluding that it provides a limited response to the punitive needs of instrumentalised animal abuse, as it excludes from its scope of application cases of domestic violence, in which it has been shown to be particularly relevant.

Author

• María-Ángeles Fuentes Fuentes-Loureiro, University of A Coruña