Murcia's gender violence figures stay among the highest in Spain as too many victims still stay silent
Judges and campaigners are urging family and friends to speak up, as only 2.5% of cases are reported by those close to the victim
The Region of Murcia remains among Spain’s hardest-hit areas for gender-based violence, even though the number of reports fell slightly last year.In 2025, 7,113 women went to court in the region to report abuse by their partner or ex-partner, an average of 19 cases a day. That was 2% fewer than the previous year, according to the General Council of the Judiciary.
Even with that small drop, the Region still stands out for the wrong reasons. It recorded 89.8 cases of gender-based violence per 10,000 women, the fifth highest rate in Spain. Only the Balearic Islands, Navarre, the Valencian Community and the Canary Islands were higher. By comparison, the national average was 74, while Castile and León and Galicia were well below that figure.
Judge Nerea Cavero, who heads the first division of the women’s violence unit at Murcia Court of First Instance, said the slight fall is in line with last year’s trend, when reports also edged down a little. She stressed that any decrease is worth recognising, but added that it is still too early to talk about a clear pattern. As she put it, women who do come forward must know that “if they decide to report the abuse, they will be supported and listened to regardless of the final outcome of the proceedings.”
The courts are also calling for people around victims to do more. Family members and close friends filed just 2.5% of complaints, a figure that has barely changed since records began. Judge Cavero and the president of the Observatory against Gender Violence, Esther Rojo, both urged those close to victims to break the silence and help bring abuse to light. Rojo said, “The entire responsibility for reporting should not fall on the woman herself,” warning that many victims are emotionally and financially dependent on the abuser.
The figures also show the wider impact on families. Last year, 14 minors reported suffering this kind of violence, a fall of 34.7% compared with the year before. Meanwhile, 33.6% of the female victims were foreign nationals, a proportion that has remained fairly stable for several years.
Not all victims felt able to carry their complaints through to the end. Last year, 492 women in Murcia withdrew their testimony or never became the main evidence against the alleged abuser, which was 6.9% of the total. That was up 10.8% on the previous year, although still below the national average of 11.3%. Judge Cavero said the reasons can be complex and may include fear or difficult family situations.
The scale of the problem remains clear in the courts too. Up to 1,979 people were tried for domestic abuse in the region last year, and 91.4% of the sentences ended in conviction. The Judiciary also recorded 118 women reporting sexual violence in the last quarter of the year, more than one case a day on average.
Image: Tumiso/Pixabay
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