On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the president of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, defended having more resources in prevention and protection for women.

“Society asks us not to look away,” he stressed, then adding that “for the first time in many years, the general consensus on gender violence is being questioned,” and he asked to “fight this discourse with determination and with more conviction than ever.”

At the institutional event on the occasion, held in a Madrid theatre, Sánchez stressed the importance of maintaining the spirit of consensus in the parliamentary subcommittee to renew the State Pact and update it with the inclusion of new forms of violence, such as digital, economic or vicarious violence.

His speech began with the condemnation of the latest sexist crime, last weekend in Estepa, Seville, which brings to 41 the number of women who have been murdered due to gender violence in Spain in 2024.

He praised the improvement in the speed of complaints and the scope of useful means such as the VioGen System, which covers more than 100,000 women, 1,200 adolescents and 1,700 children.

He also argued the need for more resources to pursue and punish abusers, with the creation of the Courts of Violence against Women and the reform of the Central Registry of Sexual Offenders; or improve access to justice with the Offices for Assistance to Victims of Crime.

“Neither solitude nor silence will ever again be an excuse for inaction, because every woman who dies at the hands of her partner or ex-partner, every woman who suffers gender violence in its many forms, is a defeat for democracy,” said the head of the Executive.

Along these lines, he welcomed the celebration this Monday of the 20th anniversary of the Comprehensive Law on Gender Violence, a “pioneering law that made Spain a world reference.”

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