The plenary session of the Parliament of the Canary Islands has agreed to ask the regional government to modify the Law on the prevention and comprehensive protection of women against gender violence to include vicarious violence, that is, the murder or violence exerted on daughters or sons to cause the greatest psychological damage by former partners.
"Vicarious violence attacks the very heart of families, they are broken lives, shattered homes and a silence that cries out for justice," said the deputy of Nueva Canarias Natalia Santana, promoter of the initiative, to which she incorporated amendments from the Canarian Coalition and against which the three deputies of Vox voted.
Santana argued that the Canarian legislation on gender violence, which dates back to 2003, needs to be updated to explicitly include vicarious violence, because a clearer recognition, more effective prevention and adequate sanctions are necessary.
Since 2013, 63 minors have been murdered in cases of vicarious violence in Spain and in the Canary Islands there are 95 minors at risk of aggression by their mothers' abuser, the deputy said.
The Canarian Parliament requests the updating of the Canarian law but also asks the Government of Spain to implement a state-level approved protocol for the detection of gender and domestic violence events in schools.
Another of the demands is that the Canarian Government develop training programs for education, health, social services and security forces personnel regarding the identification and action in cases of vicarious violence and other types of gender violence.
The establishment of rapid action protocols for the protection of women and their children in situations of vicarious violence, the creation of a monitoring and follow-up system for cases of vicarious violence and an observatory of vicarious violence, the implementation of detection protocols in educational centers and the strengthening of human resources in the courts are other demands.
Vox deputy Paula Jover justified her parliamentary group's vote against because in her opinion "victims of violence are being used to divide society and confront men and women."