11 Jun 2009
Spanish law and gay domestic violence...
Spain's ground-breaking 2004 domestic violence legislation (or Gender Violence Law as it is known here)protects members of heterosexual and lesbian married couples in the event of violent acts perpertrated by their partners. Bizarrely, gay men are not afforded the same rights on the basis that neither member of the marital union is female.
A disturbing ninety-three women lost their lives last year at the hands of their husbands in Spain. While strengethening womens' rights is heartening, concern has been expressed that homosexual men do not benefit from the same protection. Of the 120 domestic violence victims in 2008, 27 were men. This number includes several gay men. In spite of the rise in gay domestic violence cases, legal experts admit that gay men fall just outside the remit of the "Gender Violence" legislation.
Today, the media has drawn attention to the anomaly once again. Another bruised and battered woman. Another abusive partner. This time, they just happen to both be women.
The couple, who had been together for 17 years were in the throes of a bitter separation. Due to their economic difficulites, they were forced to continue living together which lead to inevitable frequent bickering and arguments. On April 3, the arguments intensified leading to one of the parties ending up in hospital with light but significant injuries. Today the defendant was sentenced to a seven month prison sentence under the terms of the above-mentioned Gender Violence Law.
Last year, in the high profile Adra case, a gay man lost his life in spite of protesting on several occasions about the violent outburts of his ex-husband.
Gay collectives from different parts of Spain are campaigning to have the rights of male homosexual married couples protected by the same legislation. Meanwhile, lawyers up and down the country scratch their heads in the face of the unexpected challenges that gay marriages might pose for the law in coming years.