Five women murdered in ten days: worst December in years for gender-based violence

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Protesters wearing blank face masks on 25 November, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women EFE Gender-based violence Five women murdered in ten days: worst December in years for gender-based violence

The number of women killed by their partners or ex-partners in 2025 rises to 46, bringing the total to 1,341 such cases since records began in 2003

Gregoria Caro

Tuesday, 16 December 2025, 09:23

The last month of 2025 has begun with the horror of gender-based violence hitting hard. It is the worst December in years for Spain, to the extent that three murders were reported in just 72 hours last week. So far this month, five women have been murdered by their partners or ex-partners between 2 and 9 December. Judicial sources and experts in gender-based violence fear that the tally will worsen as Christmas approaches.

Forensic expert Miguel Lorente , a university professor specialising in gender-based violence, points to several factors that contribute to such a dark and tragic end to the year. "The first is machismo, as a permanent and ongoing factor. But then there's the seasonal impact: we know that serious assaults and killings occur around times when family dynamics change. This happens primarily in the summer and at Christmas," he explains.

Gender-based violence

1,341 women murdered

since such crimes began being recorded from 2003 in Spain

Lorente adds two more: "The third is the imitation effect , which isn't really as such, but it does reinforce the pre-existing idea that led to the violence. And the fourth is more superficial, but it's the denial of gender-based violence, which reinforces the aggressor's violent behaviour."

Spain's ministry of equality has already launched a plan to strengthen support services and inter-institutional coordination in the run-up to Christmas. However, Lorente calls on relevant institutions to provide the kind of broader protection that goes beyond simply reporting incidents and actually takes into account the imitation effect, paying attention to periods of separation or divorce as situations of increasedrisk.

Since 22 November, eight women have been murdered at the hands of their partners or ex-partners across Spain. The figure for 2025 currently stands at 46 deaths. A total of 1,341 have been recorded since 2003, when records began for this specific crime. Despite this horrific statistic, in the latest surveys run by the CIS (centre for sociological research in Spain) , only 1.1% of respondents consider gender-based violence to be one of the main problems in Spain. This is even lower than climate change concerns (3.6%).

Judicial sources who are experts in this type of violence point out that gender-based violence is being trivialised since denialist parties have been making speeches on this topic, a clear allusion to political party Vox . They stress that data from the observatory that monitors domestic and gender-based violence, (part of Spain's general judiciary council (CGPJ)), demonstrates that gender-based violence is not a fiction, nor is it a two-way phenomenon between men and women.

They also mention that, of the more than 300 intentional homicides and murders that took place in Spain last year, around 30% of the victims were women as a result of gender-based violence. "No other population group suffers these figures," warn these sources.

Seven children left without their mothers

On Tuesday last week, Sayuri, a 36-year-old Colombian woman, was stabbed to death by her partner, a 46-year-old man from the same country, in their apartment in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Catalonia. She had been working in Spain for two years to send money to her three children. He had no criminal record. Sayuri died in her home from her stab wounds.

That same Tuesday, another 50-year-old Spanish woman from Catarroja was pronounced dead at La Fe Hospital in Valencia. She had been in the ICU for three days after being brutally beaten by her partner, who had a history of domestic violence against other women. In both cases, it was the neighbours who alerted the police.

On the 6th, Jennifer , aged 30, was murdered in El Viso del Alcor (Seville) by her partner, aged 35, who used a knife and attempted to cover up the crime by setting fire to the house. When the Guardia Civil arrived at the residence in response to the fire report, they quickly detected signs of violence on the victim. She had an 11-year-old daughter and was not part of any women's protection scheme. He was, however, registered on Spain's VioGén system for domestic violence against another woman.

On the 3rd, Rossmery , 39 years old, was murdered in Torrijos (Toledo) by her partner after leaving the home they shared to go stay at a friend's house. They had two children together, aged three and eight, who were present at the time of the crime, and another aged 17. She had already sought help at the women's centre after receiving threats from her partner in recent months.

On 2 December, the body of Oriana , 29 years old and originally from Argentina, was found in her home in Alicante. The body of her attacker was also found in the property, having hanged himself after stabbing her to death. Their divorce was pending, but they were still living together. There were no previous reports of domestic violence.