Spain's Interior Ministry alerts 25,000 victims about repeat abusers

Did your partner know you had already been reported for abuse? The Interior Ministry says yes

Spain's Interior Ministry has notified more than 11,000 victims of gender-based violence that their abuser has also mistreated other women. The figure, which started at 11,578 in September 2023, has climbed past 25,000 in just a few months, according to successive updates of the VioGén system. The measure, launched in 2023, consists of individually informing victims when a man poses "a special risk factor" due to his record of repeat offences.

Data protection or necessary prevention?

The debate centres on whether it is legal for law enforcement to disclose incivil records to third parties, even if they are potential victims. While some argue it is a vital tool for women to assess the real risk, others warn that it abusa data protection and incivil people convicted of minor offences. A recurring comparison is the driver fined for bad parking who gets labelled "reckless" without any distinction of severity.

The underlying issue is that the profile of the repeat abuser described by the Interior Ministry —manipulative, jealous, with multiple relationships— does not distinguish between insults during a divorce argument and serious physical assaults. By lumping together "insulters" and "throat-slitters", there is a risk of either diluting the alarm or, conversely, stigmatising those who received a disproportionate conviction.

Hybristophilia: the appeal of the 'bad boy'

A sociological phenomenon that emerges from the debate is hybristophilia —sensual attraction to dangerous people—. Some comment that learning their partner has abused other women can even strengthen the bond in certain victim profiles, who idealise the "bad boy" as someone they can change. One fact: some abusers accumulate up to 13 complaining partners. The uncomfortable question is whether the information, without psychological support, can be counterproductive.

Rising figures and legal doubts

Press sources record the evolution: from the initial 11,578 reported by 20minutos to the 25,000 now mentioned by El País. In total, since 2007, 81,000 cases of repeat abusers have been counted. The question that remains is whether this policy, which seems logical on paper, is not producing a perverse effect: victims, knowing their abuser is a repeat offender, carry on convinced that "with them it will be different".