One every ten minutes. UN Women says this is the rate of femicide worldwide and that 60% are committed by couples, ex-partners and family members. The family is sometimes a dangerous place for women.
In Spain, this year alone, 41 women have been murdered. Twenty-one in municipalities with less than 30,000 inhabitants and 11 of these 21 in municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants. In rural areas, gender stereotypes are more widespread and it is more difficult to denounce them because everyone knows each other, so the stigma is greater and the complicity between men is also greater. The toxic homosociality which shelters the attackers and the lack of anonymity are very dissuasive factors. A masculinized environment in which women are more dependent, have more family and care responsibilities, are older and more isolated, constitutes a fabulous breeding ground for abuse. In small municipalities, the lack of social policies and public services ends up weighing on their shoulders, which ultimately results in a notable increase in suffering and victims. In other words, family and neighbors are reliable networks that can become stifling, which is why it is so important that the renewed State Compact considers both an increase in resources and greater coordination of different administrations and a more porous incidence.
