One in five men who abuse in Spain have already done so previously, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior to which this newspaper had access. There are currently 81,291 attackers of this type in the system, technically defined as “persistent or multiple victimizers”, and their presence has increased by 58.3% in a decade, going from 13.9% in 2015 to 22% in 2025. “This growth indicates a structural and sustained evolution of the phenomenon, even if paradoxically recidivism has reduced”, they explain from Interior regarding this reality which has experts in the Ministry on gender violence to create specific detection and prevention mechanisms within the VioGén system, which monitors victims of sexist violence and attackers.
This reality also led the Secretary of State for Security, Rafael Pérez, to sign an instruction in February 2023 for the police force to inform women victims of sexist violence when their attacker had a history of mistreating other couples. This was done as early as 2007, when the VioGén system was launched, although it was at the discretion of the officer in charge of each case. Between 2007 and 2023, 6,959 of these communications were made; from internal education to date, 19,659. In total, 26,618.
The warning, however, is not general. This depends “on the assessment that police experts make of the circumstances of each case”, the department headed by Fernando Grande-Marlaska later explained. That is, they do so when “those circumstances constitute a particular risk factor for the woman and for the people who depend on her”, such as her daughters and sons. And communicating this to women is not easy. Javier de Pedro, the chief commissioner of the National Police FOEN (the team specializing in gender violence), says that “obviously” this conversation should be held by “specialized personnel”.
“You need to understand the process a victim goes through when they have been subjected to violence, and what they will go through afterwards when they are told something about their attacker,” whether they have been released from prison after serving a sentence or have other previous victims. De Pedro explains that this happens when they understand that it is “information necessary for their protection, because they themselves also take personal measures to be safer”.
That said, De Pedro states that the Police know that when faced with information like this they “relive” the violence, so “the need for security is weighed against the great emotional distress that knowing this entails”. They communicate only after they deem it “absolutely necessary, so that they are aware of the situation and for their protection”.
Repeat offenders: more violence and death threats
According to Interior’s study on these attackers, “they represent a particularly harmful profile in the context of gender violence: men who victimize more than one woman in a short period of time, initiating violence at the beginning of each relationship and maintaining a serial pattern of attacks.” Furthermore, “they do not start from scratch” when they have a new partner, but rather “they drag on and deepen their violent strategies, with a progressive escalation, both in physical and psychological violence”.
They are also notable for their more intense violence. “They present more physical violence, more (general) threats and more death threats, with increases in risk of up to 17%. They also more often show control, extreme jealousy and harassment, with increases of 15% to 20% compared to other attackers,” explains the ministry, adding that “on the other hand, the percentage of perpetrators who commit sexual violence against their partner is around 8%.”
Multiple victims: 21% of women entered into the system
Just as attackers can have multiple victims, there are women who can have multiple attackers. According to Interior data, in the system “21% of the victims had previously been registered for violence committed by other perpetrators”, they are called multiple or multi-victimized victims, and they have an average age of 35.5 years compared to the average age of 37.5 years of victims with a single aggressor.
Compared to other victims, they experience “more physical violence, more physical or mental health problems, and one critical indicator: addictions or substance abuse are more than three times more frequent than among victims of a single abuser.”
They also present, explains the ministry, a greater risk of suffering sexual violence and “a level of personal, family and social vulnerability that sometimes accompanies them since childhood”. These cases, says Interior, represent “a priority highlighted in police action protocols in cases of gender violence”.
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.
