Casting a wide net. Spain's criminal policy on gender violence after twenty years

• In Event: Gender, Crime and Justice Working Group Panel 9: Developments in understanding and responding to GBV

Abstract

Spain has provided one of the earlier and most complete examples of a criminal policy directed at combating gender-based violence. In so doing, it has provided food for thought and experiences to examine from other countries and legal systems. After twenty years of activity in this realm, results have been significant. Nevertheless, the accumulated experience allows for a characterization of the strategy employed, as well as critical examination of its main results and challenges. In this sense, the Spanish intervention on gender violence has followed mostly a "net widening" approach that is clearly visible in official statistics. This strategy has been supported by a strongly legalistic approach that has minimized the role of case-by-case analysis in favor of a risk-minimization approach. Based on official statistics, the main merits of such approach must be recognized, but its shortcomings are nonetheless significant. An overview both aspects, twenty years on, is offered hoping to provide useful information to researchers from different legal contexts.

Author

• Dyango Bonsignore, University of Alicante