'A dark month': Murder of women reaches 20-year high in Spain

euronews.com:

This December has been Spain's worst month for gender-based violence in 20 years, with 13 women being killed in the span of 28 days and a further case still being investigated by police.

At least six of the incidents happened after complaints had already been filed. Spain's government has grown increasingly concerned by the worsening situation -- indeed, the highest number of gender-based murders since records began in 2003.

The country's interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has expressed his "deep frustration" at the "unusual and terrible proliferation" of such crimes and has ordered security forces to maximise the protection of the victims.

There are 723 women who are currently deemed to be at an elevated risk of domestic violence and a total of 31,161 who are included in Spanish authorities' gender violence monitoring system.

This December has seen an already tragic situation go from bad to worse, as the incidence of violence against women has become even more heightened in the past few weeks. A total of six fatalities and two other serious injuries being recorded since Christmas Eve.

The Equality ministry, which on Wednesday assembled its crisis committee for the first time, had already explained how the holidays are a particularly dangerous time for women who suffer abuse, and has called on institutions and the wider public to be "alert" during this particularly fraught time of year.

The ministry, working together with other government departments, sent the country a clear message. On Thursday, they announced how Spain has a law banning gender violence and that its protocols are among the world's most advanced, but that there still happened to be cracks in the system that warranted further attention.

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