Balearics high on list for domestic violence

Staff Reporter THE Balearics is third on the list in Spain, for the number of women who die at the hands of their partners or ex partners. According to latest figures, reports show that the Islands have witnessed a 20 percent increase in such violence during 2003 over and above statistics for the previous year. Throughout Spain, 64 women died in the first 11 months of the year, as compared to 52 who lost their lives in the whole of 2002. In this category, the Balearics, which had to report six deaths, occupies third place in Spain, following only behind Andalucia and Catalonia and equalling Valencia. As at December 2003, the number of men who died during the year at the hands of their partners or ex partners numbered 13, compared to a figure of 16 registered in 2002. The statistics, produced by the Institute for Women based on information from central government, includes all those cases where the guilty party falls into the category of spouse, ex spouse, lover, ex lover, or (ex) boyfriend/girlfriend. In the Basque Country, Girona and Lleida, details were only included for instances where legal proceedings were taken out. As a separate branch of this research, the Institute for Women has collected data relating to the first 11 months of last year, showing that there were a total of 164 crimes of attempted murder against women undertaken by their partners or ex partners, 64 of which resulted in death. In 2002 meanwhile, 162 crimes of attempted murder were reported, 52 of which resulted in death. In the case of men, the total number of crimes registered up until December 2003 was 35, compared to 47 the previous year. In total, the number of women killed in a family environment at the hands of some member of their family (fathers, sons, brothers or other relatives) rose in the first 11 months of year to 80, compared to 76 registered in 2002; and the number of men killed in the same environment dropped slightly to 44, compared to 49 the previous year. As at December 2003, women had registered 46'012 legal complaints for aggression on the part of their partners or ex partners, as compared to 43'313 proceedings lodged throughout 2002, an increase of 6 percent.