The nine minors murdered so far this year in cases of vicarious violence, in these “extreme or lethal” cases, are a failure in the detection of gender violence, as agreed by the specialists consulted. “There are minors and women who had not previously accessed judicial bodies, but if there is already a judicial trail, that failure multiplies,” says Flor de Torres, deputy prosecutor for Violence against Women in Andalusia and senior prosecutor of Malaga, who lived firsthand the murder of the girl Leonor.
“One in three women does not report, but minors flourish in judicial processes and that perspective must be visualized,” she says. It is the obligation of the prosecutor to report to the specialized bodies when signs of violence are detected in a civil process. «I receive complaints from colleagues. “We are the specialists, but applying that gender perspective must be transversal.” Remember that we are talking about saving children from the clutches of violence… or saving their lives.
De Torres fought for a year for the murder of little Leonor (7 years old) to be considered a case of gender violence and not domestic violence. Her father murdered her in Campillos (Málaga) in 2013 during a visitation regime, even though he had been convicted of threatening Pilar, the girl’s mother.
«I met Leonor without life. She was the first legal and direct victim of gender violence as a minor and in an identical case,” the prosecutor wrote in an article published in Diario Sur. His involvement has not ceased. «In a profile like that of Linares with abuse from two previous partners, I insist to the Equality and Social Services agents that they must be alert. Seeing objective risk situations is a qualified duty and, of course, transferring that suspicion to the violence court,” says the prosecutor.
The question is inevitable. Are there mothers who look the other way and don’t see what is happening at home? «A battered woman falls into learned helplessness. Violent behaviors, whether physical, sexual, or economic, become normalized and integrated into their daily lives. When a woman considers that these behaviors are normal, she projects it and transfers it to her children,” details jurist and criminologist Paz Velasco. Give examples.
Pathological loves
«He hits me because he arrives tired and I ask him or I bother him or I don’t realize what’s wrong. The woman makes arguments of this type and applies them to her children… That is why she is violent with them, it is said, she justifies it in her own way.
«A battered woman lacks the tools to manage the defense of her children, she normalizes personal violence towards herself and also towards her own children. It happens on many occasions.
Others suffer from what she calls “pathological loves.” The woman is also a victim and blames herself. She enters into a blindness, into a situation of panic that he will abandon her in a way that allows the abuse of her children, if that means that he stays. “There are more cases than we think,” says Velasco.
Beyond machismo
An expert on psychopathic personalities and with several published books that have become a reference, the criminologist shares the frustration over the murders of children. «It is a failure. Institutional protection and laws are no longer enough. “The legislation does not deter the criminal, other measures must be sought.” Velasco talks about precipitators, not just sexist behaviors. «There are other risk factors: mental pathologies, jealousy, emotional dependents, drug addicts… Not everything is machismo and patriarchy. “We would have to go case by case to see what leads to that cruelty.”
#abused #woman #lacks #tools #defend #children
