The complaints of gender violence registered in the judicial bodies of the Canary Islands during the past year 2024 increased by 0.6% compared to 2023. While in 2023 the courts of the Islands had registered 11,440 complaints of gender violence, in 2024 the number was 11,503 (63 more), according to data released this Monday by the Observatory against Domestic and Gender Violence of the General Council of the Judiciary.
The data show a significant decrease in the growth of complaints: between 2022 and 2023, the difference in complaints had risen to 1,683 (17.7%).
However, the reduced increase in the presentation of complaints for gender-based crime in the Canary Islands occurs in a year in which the number of complaints in the entire national territory has decreased by 0.1% compared to the previous year.
According to the report of the governing body of the judges, the number of women victims of gender violence decreased last year in the Islands, compared to 2023. It went from 11,440 to 10,787, 653 less.
According to official data, the Canary Islands registered a rate of 95.1 women victims of gender violence per 10,000 last year (the previous year it had been 102.1), the third highest in the State after the Balearic Islands (118.7) and Navarra (102.5). The figure represents a decrease of 7 points compared to the ratio of the previous year.
The national average was 74.2 women victims of gender violence per 10,000 women, 20.9 points below the Canary Islands ratio.
The community with the lowest rate of women victims of gender violence last year was Castilla y León (46.8), a figure that more than doubles in the Canary Islands. The second lowest rate was that of Galicia (51.6), and the third, that of the Basque Country (56.4).
The Observatory's report offers more data: of the 10,787 women victims of violence in the Canary Islands, 7,742 were Spanish (24 of them minors) and 3,045 were foreign. 1,543 of the victims availed themselves during the processing of the process to the dispensation to the obligation to testify against their alleged aggressor, 10.9% more than in the previous year, when 1,391 women had not confirmed the complaints.
During the past year, the Canary Islands judicial bodies that judged cases of gender violence issued 3,082 convictions (4.2% less than in 2023), 151 acquittals (13.5% more than in the previous year), 534 free dismissal orders (1.3%) and 3,673 provisional dismissal orders of the proceedings (-14.9%).
Regarding the people on trial, in 2024 there were 900 who sat on the bench in the Canary Islands for sexist crimes (23.6% more than in 2023), with 63.3% being convicted (7.6% less than in 2023). 452 were Spanish citizens and 118 were foreigners.
Regarding protection orders, the Canary Islands courts registered 1,713 requests last year, 8.9% less than in 2023. Of these, they rejected 13, adopted 1,319 (9.7% less than in 2023) and denied 381 (-6.4%).
The report details that during 2024 the Archipelago registered a rate of 15.9 women with protection orders per 100 women victims of gender violence, the second lowest rate of this kind in Spain, only surpassed by that of Navarra (14).
The Observatory's study offers for the fourth year data broken down by islands. During the past year, in Fuerteventura there were 670 complaints of crimes of violence against women (the previous year there had been 1,097); in Gran Canaria, 5,335 (5,628 the previous year); in Lanzarote, 624 (627 in 2023); in El Hierro, 23 (31 the previous year); in La Gomera, 61 (69 in 2023); in La Palma 242 (416 in 2023), and in Tenerife, 5,471 (5,816 the previous year). In the vast majority of cases, crimes of injury and mistreatment were reported.
National data
Regarding data from all over the State, during 2024 the number of complaints from women victims of gender violence remained at very similar figures to those of the previous year, with a total of 199,094 being registered. The number of victims decreased by 4.96%, a decrease very close to that shown by the number of those who availed themselves of the dispensation from the duty to testify, which was 4.47%. Throughout 2024, 544 complaints were registered in Spain per day and there were 502 women victims of these crimes, averages slightly lower than those of the previous year (546 complaints and 533 victims each day).
According to the annual data corresponding to 2024, prepared by the Statistics Service for the Observatory against Domestic and Gender Violence and which have been made public today, the judicial bodies received 199,094 complaints of gender violence, 0.09% less than in 2023, year in which 199,277 were registered; as for the women victims, there were 183,908, 4.96% less than the previous year, with 193,516.
The protection orders agreed in 2024 by the courts of violence against women and by the duty courts were 33,247, 6.5% less than in 2023, while the sentences issued, 62,173, increased by 3.32%. 80.55% of these resolutions contained a conviction.
Seven out of ten complaints (72.11%) were filed directly by the victims in court and at the police station, a proportion that remains stable for another year. The percentage is still much higher than that of complaints filed by family members of the victim, which represent 1.9% of the total. Complaints derived directly from police reports represented 15.92%; those originating from injury reports, 7.19% and those filed by third parties, 3.9 percent.
The rate of victims of gender violence per 10,000 women was 74.2 throughout Spain, five points lower than in 2023.
Above the national average were the Balearic Islands, with a ratio of 118.7 per 10,000 women; Navarra, with 102.5; the Canary Islands, with 95.1; the Valencian Community, with 94.9; Murcia, with 92; Andalusia, with 82.6; and Madrid, with 78. The lowest rates were recorded in Cantabria, with 66.8; Aragon, with 64.2; Asturias, with 61.5; Catalonia, with 60.9; Castilla-La Mancha, with 60.8; the Basque Country, with 56.4; Extremadura, with 55.5; La Rioja, 52.4; Galicia, with 51.6; and Castilla y León, with 46.8.
Two thirds of the women victims registered during 2024 (62.93%) were Spanish.
10% of the victims refused to testify against their aggressor
The number of women victims who availed themselves of the dispensation from the duty to testify (18,629) decreased by 4.47% compared to 2023. However, the percentage of victims who made this decision, which was 10.13 percent, remained stable in relation to that of 2023, year in which it had stood at 10.02%.
Taking into account the total number of foreign victims (68,171), the 8,360 who availed themselves of the dispensation represented 12.26%. In the case of those of Spanish nationality, the 10,269 who made this decision represented 8.87% of the total.
Protection orders requested and granted
In 2024, a total of 49,268 protection orders were requested in the judicial bodies (courts of violence against women and duty courts), 3% less than in 2023. Of these, 33,247 were agreed and another 15,827 were denied, 6.5% and 5% less than in 2023, respectively. The judicial bodies agreed to 67.48% of the protection orders that were requested from them.
Of the total number of protection orders issued by the judicial bodies, 27,245 were issued by the courts of violence against women, which agreed to 66.1 percent of the requests they received; the other 6,002 corresponded to the duty courts and represented 75% of those that were requested from them.
In 45.5% of the cases, the relationship (spouse or emotional relationship) was maintained at the time of requesting the protection order, a percentage slightly lower than that of 2023 (46.3%). 62.3% of the women victims who requested a protection order (25,701) were Spanish and 1.8% of the total (Spanish and foreign) were minors.
Criminal and civil judicial protection measures
The judicial bodies also agreed, derived from the protection orders and other precautionary measures, a total of 59,850 criminal judicial measures to protect the victims (women and minors). In the criminal field, the most frequent were restraining orders (23,488), which represent 68.33% of the total number of protection orders and precautionary measures agreed, and the prohibition of communication (23,402), which represent 68.27 percent.
On the other hand, the judicial bodies issued a total of 19,745 civil precautionary measures, whose purpose is the protection of women and minors while the criminal process is resolved. The most frequent were those related to the provision of food (6,218), followed by those related to the attribution of housing (4,321), the suspension of the visitation regime (4,155) and the suspension of custody (2,369).
Eight out of ten sentences were convictions
Last year, the percentage of convictions issued by the judicial bodies (courts of violence against women, criminal courts and provincial courts) in processes related to gender violence remained very similar to that of 2023, standing at 80.55% of the total.
The total number of sentences issued in 2024 was 62,173 and, of these, 50,078 were convictions and 12,095 (19.45%), acquittals.
The highest percentage of convictions for abusers occurred, as in previous years, in the courts of violence against women, with 92.04%, and in the provincial courts, with 81.02% of the total sentences issued. The criminal courts imposed convictions in 69.56% of the cases they tried.
- Courts of violence against women
The courts of violence against women held a total of 8,097 trials on minor offenses last year, 10.2% more than in 2023. Of these, 3,627 (45%) were for immediate trial. Of the total number of minor offenses tried last year (8,432), 34% were insults and 45% were unfair harassment.
These judicial bodies received a total of 265,628 criminal cases throughout the year, with 65.6% of the crimes investigated being those of injuries and mistreatment provided for in articles 153 and 173 of the Penal Code.
The number of civil lawsuits filed by women victims of gender violence in these courts - mostly non-consensual divorces and measures related to the custody or food of children - amounted to 27,772, 8.34% more than in 2023.
- Criminal Courts
The Criminal Courts, which try crimes punishable by up to five years in prison, received 33,944 cases during 2024 and resolved 32,845. The number of sentences issued by these bodies was 31,530, of which 21,933 (69.56%) were convictions.
- Provincial Courts
The Provincial Courts, whose sections specialized in violence against women try the most serious crimes, punishable by custodial sentences of more than five years, issued 532 sentences, of which 431 (81.02%) were convictions.
- Juvenile Courts
For its part, last year the juvenile courts tried 342 minors for crimes of violence against women, the same number as in 2023. Measures were imposed in 92.98% of the cases (318 minors in total), of which 255 were Spanish and 63 were of other nationalities. In the other 24 proceedings, no measures were imposed.
Main data from the fourth quarter of 2024
The main indicators of gender violence showed during the fourth quarter of last year a decrease both in the number of complaints (49,511), which decreased by 3.16%, and in the number of victims (45,481), which were 8.12% less.
Seven out of ten complaints (71.71%) were filed by the victim at the police station or directly in court, a percentage that has remained stable for years. Similarly, the number of complaints filed by family members of the victims is still very small, representing only 2% of the total.
On the contrary, the women victims who availed themselves of the dispensation from the duty to testify increased by 15.52% compared to the same quarter of 2023 and represented 12.18% of the total number of victims.
The courts of violence against women adopted between October and December 2023 a total of 6,340 protection orders, 64.8% of the 9,789 requested before these judicial bodies. To these are added the 1,462 orders adopted by the courts on duty, 74% of the 1,966 requests received.
In the period analyzed, the courts imposed 13,925 protection measures of a criminal nature (derived from protection orders and other precautionary measures for the protection and safety of the victims), the most frequent being the restraining order (67% of the total) and the prohibition of communication (67.56%).
In addition, the courts of violence against women agreed to 4,795 civil measures, the most common being those related to the provision of food (22.76% of the total), the suspension of the visitation regime (14.86 percent), the attribution of housing (14.65%) and the suspension of custody (8.41%).
The total number of sentences issued by the judicial bodies in matters of gender violence was 15,921. Of these, 79.47% contained a conviction and the remaining 20.53% were acquittals.
The highest percentage of convictions occurred in the courts of violence against women, in which 91.02% of the 7,292 sentences issued contained a conviction. Of the 164 sentences issued by the Provincial Courts, 82.32 percent were convictions, while the criminal courts imposed convictions in 69.47% of the 5,881 sentences issued in the quarter.
