We share this book, promoted by APDHE (Spanish Human Rights Association) with the support of the Ministry of Equality and published by Editorial Colex.
Elena Laporta Hernández and Samara de las Heras Aguilera, on behalf of Fem Ius, have coordinated the project together with Tania García Sedano, and we have written two chapters as experts in international and European rights frameworks, drawing on our knowledge gained from participating as legal advisors in the negotiation processes of Directive (EU) 2024/1385 of the European Parliament and of the Council of May 14, 2024, on combating violence against women and domestic violence.
These are in addition to the contributions of Maria Barcons Campmajó, Camila Cella, Isabel Diez Velasco, Julieta Rey, Tania Sordo Ruz y Paloma Torres López, colleagues from the legal field with different experiences, backgrounds, and positions, further enriching the final result of this work.
Each chapter addresses different manifestations of violence against women, highlighting the most relevant regulatory milestones, as well as the pronouncements of the bodies that oversee the correct application of binding regulations and supranational soft law, especially those aimed at the Spanish authorities responsible for preventing and prosecuting violence against women, and protecting, caring for, and providing redress to survivors.
SOME THOUGHTS
The book is published twenty years after the approval of Organic Law 1/2004, of December 28, on Comprehensive Protection Measures against Gender Violence, a pioneering legislation at the time, which followed in the footsteps of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, adopted in 1993 by the UN. It reinforced the process of raising awareness in a society that was increasingly outraged by cases of violence against women that were beginning to be made public. A prime example is that of Ana Orantes, who had the courage to appear on a television program to recount the abuse she had suffered at the hands of her ex-husband for years, a few days before he burned her alive.
Over the past twenty years, countless women have also raised their voices to speak out about the violence that affects us all: girls, teenagers and women. We take to the streets, fill classrooms and disseminate writings in turbulent times, in which we continue to face the denial or minimisation of gender-based violence and setbacks in the protection of women’s rights, but we do so stronger and more present in public spaces. The so-called fourth wave of feminism is a tsunami that has exposed the magnitude of forms of violence that were silenced or considered isolated cases and, moreover, has shifted the blame, in the words of Gisèle Pelicot.
Likewise, the course of time has shown the need for specific mechanisms to protect and care for survivors and prosecute perpetrators, in order to prevent the resurgence of violence generated by impunity, and also that this is not enough. Hence the continuous development of frameworks for the protection of women’s rights and of regulations and public policies at the state, regional, and local levels, which have continued to expand and adopt recommendations to guide the institutions and professionals responsible for the protection of all survivors, understanding that women’s needs and experiences are as diverse as the forms of discrimination that affect us.
The book can be viewed and downloaded in Spanish at the following link: https://www.colexopenaccess.com/libros/de-violencia-genero-las-violencias-las-mujeres-razon-genero-8218