Spain's prime minister has launched a campaign against domestic violence in Europe, calling it one of the worst forms of human rights violations.
Almost a quarter of women in Europe have suffered physical or sexual attack. In Spain alone, some two million women say they have been the victims of some form of abuse, be it psychological or physical. The Council of Europe says "risk factors", including a patriarchal culture, gender stereotypes and low income, must be addressed.
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero spoke to the Council of Europe on the subject of domestic abuse in Europe. Spain has been leading the way in domestic abuse reform for quite some time, with a law passed in 2004 that introduced tougher penalties for men convicted of domestic abuse crimes. Also, special courts have also been set up and the number of police officers trained to work with abused women has been increased 9-fold.
I find the article problematic in that domestic abuse is defined solely as men doing abuse to women. Still, it's good to see something done about this anywhere in the world.
