no criminal record or abuse – kudupinter World News Network

Data on murdered women from the Observatory against domestic and gender violence of the General Council of the Judicial Power (CGPJ) between 2013 and 2024 shows a certain number of femicides which occur outside the prevention radar. Only 34.4 … percent of these cases were the subject of a prior complaint, compared to 64.6 who did not. In 2024 data: of the 48 deaths due to gender-based violence, only 15 had reported it previously. The sociologist Jorge Santos Magnificentcriminal analyst, doctor in clinical psychology and professor at the Distance University of Madrid (CEF.-UDIMA) has been analyzing for years the types of aggressors against women and the differences in their stories, and always in collaboration with the police, the Civil Guard, the Interior and penitentiary institutions to improve prevention systems.

One of the most relevant conclusions of their research is that femicide It’s not always the last link of a story of mistreatment (against popular literature). This crime can appear in the couple without any previous episode of violence and, moreover, there is not even a single type of aggressor or feminicide. In his work, Santos led a multidisciplinary team of criminologists, psychologists and police specialists to profile these murderers, who studied hundreds of police reportsjudicial and penitentiary data, social services data and they even interviewed the attackers and those close to the victims.

“We try to ensure that everything we do has a real practical application,” Santos tells ABC, whose research was conducted provided very useful information for prevention systems, institutional intervention and the protection of these women, even for the most difficult cases to detect.

In ‘Typology of homicides of women by their partners’, Published in Springer magazine in 2022, this team identifies four profiles of murderous attackers in Spain. In a conversation with this newspaper, Santos explains that the most difficult to detect is the so-called “standard type” (23.4 percent of the sample of 171 cases analyzed). These are men with no criminal or criminal record and, therefore, off the radar of the VioGen police protection system. They consume alcohol but without dependence, demonstrate emotional stability and generally have a high level of education. Although they are found to suffer from avoidant attachment. After committing the murder they are not trying to commit suicide and they accept psychological help to overcome these episodes.

“Popular belief is that if there is no prior reporting after a murder, it means that there was violence between the couples, but it was not reported out of fear or something else. But we found that It’s not always like that: In 21.6 percent of the feminicides in our sample we did not record any behavior that could be reported and in 11.7 percent we could not determine it, but we were inclined because there was none”, explains Santos, who adds: “The first manifestation of violence in these cases was the femicide and this is a problem of prevention. How to detect it?

“We cannot stigmatize either, we cannot point the finger at a man who goes to the doctor for depression. “That’s why it’s very difficult to prevent cases that don’t show any traits of violent behavior.”

Then there is the “pathological type” (18.7%): low tendency towards psychosis, does not consume alcohol and has no criminal record. These men commit the crime while they are still in a romantic relationship with the victim, usually long-term, and then attempt suicide. Even if ‘a priori’ nothing suggested that their emotional ties were unhealthy. They also go unnoticed in prevention.

“The Police Risk Assessment Protocol (VPR) and the VioGen protection systems are pioneering and avant-garde in the world, but prevention cannot be the responsibility of police officers alone; our studies show that emotional instability can also be linked to a possible episode of femicide,” explains Santos, who suggests the need to move towards more interdisciplinary prevention, with health, social services or mental health tools, among others.

However, the expert also warns: “We cannot stigmatize either, we cannot point the finger at a man who goes to the doctor for depression. “That is why it is very difficult to prevent cases that do not present violent behavioral traits and, therefore, in those where there is a risk we must do as much as possible.”

The breakdown of the relationship could activate the mortal risk

in his workshop “The breakdown of the couple and its influence on relational dynamics in the event of femicide” (2021) There is evidence that the end of a relationship in itself does not result in feminicidal behavior, but it appears to be a high-risk moment in relationships where there has been previous serious assault. In more than half of the cases analyzed, both fatal and non-lethal violence appeared when the victim expressed her desire to break up with her attacker or when they were already separated.

However, Santos asks not to fall into simplifications because the conclusions are more complex. For example, when they analyze only cases in which there was previous violence, the breakdown of the relationship appears more linked to the murder of the woman. This means that separation is not always dangerous, but it can be when there is already a history of violence in the relationship. On the other hand, they saw that expressing the intention of wanting to separate without this prior violence being present is more linked to the occurrence of a non-lethal attack. The study suggests that knowing information about the relevance of previous contexts of violence helps improve risk assessment protocols.

They also provide other essential information: in two out of three feminicides, there was violent behavior and aggression that could have been brought to the attention of the judicial authorities, but only a minority was ultimately reported. “The hidden character must be addressedwe must try to influence it by all possible means, the government delegation against gender violence already reflects this in the macro-surveys, where it asks victims if they have suffered violence and why they have not reported it”, warns Santos, who adds: “It is essential to identify your fears and reduce this figure as much as possible, we also try to help in this area, the information also helps victims to report.

Those of “a violent man” (25.7 percent), who exhibit a tendency towards psychoticism, are anxious and insecure in their emotional connections, have a criminal record and are in the VioGen system. They tend to commit the crime while they are already separated. And finally, those of “pathologically violent type” (32.2%): strong emotional instability, psychotism, criminal record and registration in the VioGen protection system. They consume alcohol in a problematic manner and refuse any help to deal with their psychological and behavioral problems. Santos explains that identifying all these particularities of femicide helps to design better detection and intervention strategies for victims and makes treatment and reintegration programs for perpetrators more effective.

To kill or not to kill? That’s the question

In his research “To kill or not to kill?” That’s the question, Published in October, Santos delves deeper into these typologies and questions whether, in Spain, fatal attackers of women and non-fatal attackers should be studied as members of the same group. The conclusion they reached is no (although always with nuances). This reinforces the need for prevention which tends towards the individualization of cases and collaboration between institutions beyond the police. Although mortal and non-mortal people share traits such as obsessive control of their partner or ex-partner, threats, violence, or jealousy, the motivations of the two are different.

Femicides exhibit behavioral patterns of greater emotional instability and their execution may be triggered by life crises or the breakdown of a relationship. This is where we find the “normalized” mentioned above, the prevention of which is so complicated. Although perpetrators who do not kill tend to be more antisocial and exhibit dominant behaviors, they rarely end up killing.