The Court Number 2 for Violence against Women of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has assumed jurisdiction to investigate the alleged kidnapping of a minor committed by a man as a possible case of indirect violence. According to the complaint, the suspect kept his daughter with him for five months in Malaga, without the mother’s consent and against the current visitation regime. The decision, advanced by the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC), represents an important step in the legal interpretation of the use of sons and daughters as an instrument of harm to women.
The case originates on April 20, when the suspect did not return the eight-year-old girl to her usual residence in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, despite the fact that she had not been granted custody or any judicial authorization to change the residence regime. The minor was transferred to Malaga, where she lived for a period of five months with her father and his new partner, until a court decision on 10 October ordered her immediate return to her mother.
Judge María Auxiliadora Díaz maintains in her order that the father’s alleged conduct could fall within the concept of indirect violence, that is, the strategy of inflicting harm on sons or daughters with the aim of psychologically or emotionally damaging the woman. The order also recalls that this jurisdiction requirement is supported by Consultation 4/2025 of the State Attorney General’s Office, which establishes that specialized courts can investigate cases of child abduction when they involve acts of gender violence.
The resolution investigates not only a possible crime of child abduction, but also a crime of habitual abuse, “subject to subsequent classification”. In this sense, the order explains that “during the entire cohabitation”, the suspect addressed her with insults and expressions such as “Bad mother, without me you are nobody, you disgust me…” in Fuerteventura. “Gradually, the person under investigation began to have an explosive and unstable character.” The decisions, explains the order, “were taken by him and she initially accepted them, because she was emotionally dependent”.
The judge underlines that in this matter there are two types of criminal offenses, which would strengthen the jurisdiction of the specialized court. However, it goes further by stating that even in the absence of a second crime, the abduction of minors could be considered an act of violence against women when the exploitation of boys or girls to harm them is proven: “Any of the acts provided for by article 225 of the Criminal Code constitutes, in itself, an act of violence or intimidation against women” in such circumstances.
The order includes a set of alleged “humiliations and coercions” attributed to the suspect, which were allegedly committed against his ex-partner during the period in which he had the minor with him. Among these is the false accusation against the mother of alleged injuries suffered by the girl, when these, explains the magistrate, occurred in a school accident while she was playing sports. The resolution indicates that these facts could be “subsumed” into the crime of habitual abuse, without excluding the existence of a real conspiracy of crimes given the diversity of the legal assets protected.
Furthermore, the judicial body imposed a restrictive measure against the man under investigation and a ban on communicating with his daughter for the entire duration of the investigations, in order to protect the minor and avoid interference in the investigations.
The decision to take charge of the case, which was initially sent to the ordinary investigative judge, has the favorable opinion of the Prosecutor’s Office, a determining element in a matter that the magistrate himself defines as “new” in terms of his sphere of competence. The resolution is subject to appeal.
The 016 telephone line assists victims of sexist violence, their families and those around them 24 hours a day, every day of the year, in 53 different languages. The number is not recorded on the phone bill, but the call must be canceled from the device. You can also contact via email 016-online@igualdad.gob.es and via WhatsApp on 600 000 016. Minors can contact the ANAR Foundation telephone number 900 20 20 10. In case of emergency it is possible to call 112 or the telephone numbers of the State Police (091) and the Civil Guard (062). And if you can’t call you can use the ALERTCOPS application, from which an alert signal is sent to the Police with geolocation.
