The Association of Women Judges of Spain, on the occasion of a new case of gender violence against girls and boys and in the face of the urgent need to address the comprehensive, rapid and effective protection of mothers and their daughters and sons, the weakest link in the family structure:
1.- We want to convey to the mother, family and friends of Cristian, 11 years old, our affection and solidarity, as well as show our outrage at the invisibility of violence against girls and boys despite the outcry of complaints filed by their mothers alerting of the danger.
2.- Since 2003, 1010 women have been murdered by their partners or ex-partners. But it is not only women and mothers who are victims of gender violence. Since 2013, 29 girls and boys have been murdered and 221 have been orphaned as a result of gender violence. These figures alert us to the need to also take into account the violence suffered by children who grow up in a family environment where gender violence is present, conditioning their well-being and integral development, compromising their health, their physical and psychological integrity and their lives, and turning them into an instrument to exercise violence against their mothers, also favoring the intergenerational transmission of these violent behaviors against women. In this context we speak of "Vicarious Violence", which turns girls and boys into a lethal weapon and a means of transmitting abuse from aggressors to women.
3.- We consider it urgent that the different public administrations assume their responsibilities in this regard, and we warn of the danger posed by the confusion caused in society by those positions that deny the systematic, historical and structural violence exercised against women and the questioning of the legal instruments to combat it, which try to hide it with euphemisms such as "domestic violence", giving uniform solutions to diverse problems, and which require specific treatments.
We also reject the manipulation of public opinion to cast suspicion on reports of gender violence, as well as the use of erroneous and opportunistic concepts such as "parental alienation syndrome" that try to question mothers' reports of abuse by fathers towards them and/or towards their children.
4º.- We demand concrete measures for the integral protection of girls and boys and their mothers against gender violence, among which we propose the following;
1º- Given that any girl or boy exposed to gender violence is an abused minor, they should be provided with specific effective assistance and protection according to their circumstances.
2º.- To address a reform of the Penal Code and procedural regulations that, in accordance with the Istanbul Convention, gives specific treatment to crimes in whose commission a clear sexist origin is appreciated based on the objectification and discrimination of women, and the use and abuse of girls and boys, both in the sphere of the couple and outside it.
3º-Reform of the Victim's Statute in order to recognize the consideration as such and extend the totality of its legal regime to the children of those women who have been victims of some type of gender violence. Minors should be given specific treatment and protection, including comprehensive social assistance and the possibility of providing them with autonomous legal assistance and a judicial defender in case of conflict of interest.
4º- Modification of the Organic Law of the Judiciary and the Law of Demarcation and Structure in order to increase the number of Exclusive Courts in matters of Violence against Women whose competence should be extended to all sexist crimes and not only those committed in the sphere of the couple, guaranteeing and conditioning this competence, in any case, to the workload they assume allows an individualized and in-depth treatment of each case. Compatible Courts should be eliminated and tend towards greater specialization of these crimes, residing them in a specific body that has adequately trained judicial and assistance personnel.
5º- Approval of an Organic Law of Integral Protection of Children and Adolescents against violence because the Committee on the Rights of the Child, on the occasion of the examination of the situation of children's rights in Spain in 2010 and 2018, recommended to our country that it approve an integral law on violence against children, similar to the one approved against gender violence, which guarantees the reparation of their rights and minimum care standards in the different autonomous communities.
6º- Improvement of the comprehensive monitoring system of cases of gender violence and police detection of risk (Viogen) also incorporating the assessment of the aggressor and the situation of the daughters/sons, not limited only to the risks of physical aggression. It must gather all the complaints filed (as already urged by the United Nations on July 16, 2014, in the Opinion of the CEDAW Committee in its Communication number 47/2012, case Ángeles González against Spain), and be complemented with the expert opinion of social workers, psychologists and health personnel (strengthening of the Forensic Assessment Units) whose number and specialization should be increased. Increase the coordination and communication of information between this registry and those existing at the administrative and penitentiary level.
7º.- Specialized training in schools to improve the prevention and detection of situations of gender violence through children.
8º.- Adequate use of existing legal resources for the protection of minors, to prevent them from continuing to be considered only as "collateral victims" and not as "direct victims" and not to undermine their protection through the adoption of civil measures relating to the visitation regime without really taking into account their status as victims. To this end, we consider it necessary:
Effective application of the "Medical-forensic protocol for urgent assessment of the risk of gender violence" whose use is still very scarce according to the data of the State Attorney General's Office, despite its capital importance in the assessment of risk when deciding on the granting of protection measures.
In the matter of custody and in line with the Ombudsman, we emphasize the need to make an ex officio pronouncement on the protection measures for minors, including the possibility of suspending the exercise of parental authority or custody for the accused of gender violence, with respect to the minors to whom it refers (art. 65 LO 1/2004) or the suspension of visits (art. 66).
Obligation on the part of the judicial bodies, in cases of not resolving on suspension, to carry out a periodic follow-up of the evolution and development of the visitation regime of the father/aggressor with his daughters and sons with the objective of guaranteeing that the parental-filial relations do not harm the development of the girl or boy and guarantee them the right to grow up free of violence (art. 66).
7º-Increase of social resources to be able to refer women and their daughters and sons increasing the number of shelters, supervised flats and family meeting points. Recover the competences and provide sufficient economic resources to the local entities in matters of assistance to the victims in order to put in place sufficiently equipped and accessible resources for them against the abusive parents.
8º- Reactivation of the State Pact against Gender Violence that among its measures includes the 204.- "Establish the imperative character of the suspension of the visitation regime in all cases in which the minor has witnessed, suffered or lived with manifestations of violence, without prejudice to adopting measures to promote the application of articles 65 and 66 of the LO 1/2004"
9.- Specialized training of the Judiciary, Prosecutor's Office and other legal operators in minors, with the objective of applying not only the gender perspective but also the perspective of the minor in the decision-making that directly affects their development.
It is in this common ground that we must join efforts to achieve a Justice committed to guaranteeing Human Rights, especially the life and physical and psychological integrity of women, girls and boys.