Making Visible a New Form of Gender-Based Violence: Vicarious Gender-Based Violence in Spain

Abstract

Background. Vicarious gender-based violence constitutes a specific form of violence against women carried out through harm inflicted on their sons or daughters, with the purpose of prolonging, intensifying, and deepening their suffering. In Spain, its legal recognition has gained particular relevance following emblematic cases that exposed institutional and regulatory shortcomings in its proper identification and prevention.

Methods. This article conducts a legal and documentary analysis of vicarious violence in the Spanish context. It examines landmark cases, including those of Ángela González Carreño and José Bretón, as well as the main criminal-law difficulties involved in distinguishing this conduct from other forms of domestic or gender-based violence. It also analyses the Draft Organic Law on measures concerning vicarious violence.

Findings. The study identifies conceptual, legal, and evidentiary obstacles that hinder the autonomous recognition of vicarious violence and an adequate criminal-law response. The cases analysed show that harm inflicted on children can be used as an instrument of domination, punishment, and control over the mother. The Draft Law represents progress in making this form of violence visible and in strengthening its prevention and punishment, although its effectiveness will depend on a comprehensive application grounded in a gender perspective.

Interpretation. Vicarious violence requires a specific legal response that recognises both women and their sons and daughters as direct victims. Its effective prevention and punishment demand overcoming restrictive approaches, strengthening protection mechanisms, and adopting both a gender perspective and a comprehensive child-protection approach. The legal recognition of this form of criminal violence is essential to prevent its invisibility and to guarantee effective protection for victims.