The Courts for Violence Against Women ( es, Juzgados de Violencia Sobre la Mujer) are Specialised criminal courtrooms associated to the Inquiry Courts, established by the Organic Law 1/2004 of Comprehensive Protection Measures against

Violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), are violent acts primarily or exclusively committed against women or girls, usually by men or boys. Such violence is often con ...

. Extraordinarily these courts also have powers in the civil jurisdiction acting as Courts of First Instance and Inquiry. They are associated to the Judicial District, even though one court can be created to cover the area of two or more districts.

Powers

The Courts for Violence Against Women have the power to inquire on the following crimes: * Homicide ( manslaughter or murder),

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

, harm to the fetus, crimes against freedom, crimes against moral integrity, sexual crimes or any other crime committed by the present or past spouse or significant other, independently or living together, as well as against minor and unable that are under the legal custody or care of the offender. *On crimes against family obligations when the victim is one of the mentioned before To rule on misdemeanor cases when the victim is one of the before mentioned. They establish any legal measures necessary to protect the victims. In the Civil jurisdiction, and as long the process is due to the initiation of a criminal process in these courts, the courts have the power to know in the business related to

family law Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations. Overview Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include: * Marriage ...

Staff

Staff associated with this Court are given special training in relation to gender violence due to the trauma suffered by victims, and the existence of emotional links with the offender. Additionally, the Courts are usually assisted by psychologists and social assistants.

Criticism and support

The creation of this court, founded and strongly supported by Women's institutions, has generated quite a range of criticism within Spanish society. A non-binding legal report by the

General Council of the Judiciary The General Council of the Judiciary ( es, Consejo General del Poder Judicial, CGPJ) is the national council of the judiciary of Spain. It is the constitutional body that governs all the Judiciary of Spain, such as courts, and judges, as it i ...

(CGPJ), considered that the law on which the court is based violated the principle of equality as established in the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

. Many associations, like the Conservative the Professional Association of Magistrates (APM) or divorced fathers groups are opposed to the courts. As to March 2008, over 200 Spanish Judges have challenged the constitutionality of the law at the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...

via the constitutionality question procedure. The law was founded and has extensive support of feminist organizations and specialised jurists, that believe it to be a necessary step in their goal of "eradicating" gender violence against women in Spain, however official figures from the National Institute of Statistics show that deaths have steadily increased since the start of the campaign. In May 2008 the Constitutional Court ruled the constitutionality of the Organic Law for the Prevention of Violence Against Women, discarding any legal criticism of the law.Las claves de la decisión del TC sobre la Ley contra la Violencia de Género
in terra.es In 2019, a conservative

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Spanish group launched a bus campaign against '

Feminazi ''Feminazi'' is a pejorative term for feminists that was popularized by politically conservative American radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh. Origin and usage ''Feminazi'' is a portmanteau of the nouns ''feminist'' and ''Nazi''. According to ''Th ...

s' with an image of lipstick-wearing

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

, as a protest against sexist laws on domestic violence, demanding that laws are made gender-neutral.

References

External links

Text of law 1/2004 in English
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spanish Courts For Violence Against Women Judiciary of Spain Violence against women in Spain

Powers

Staff

Criticism and support

See also

References

External links