UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 26) Another reform under way aims to improve the procedures used to identify victims and to meet the special needs of child victims of trafficking. The Framework Protocol for the Protection of Victims of Trafficking also addresses the particular situation of child victims. Organic Act No. 10/2011 amended article 59 bis of Organic Act No. 4/2000 on the rights and freedoms of foreigners in Spain and their social integration, so as to enhance protection for foreign women in an irregular situation who are potential victims of trafficking and to encourage them to cooperate with the authorities in the investigation of trafficking offences. Lastly, there is the Integrated Plan against Trafficking for Purposes of Sexual Exploitation 2009-2012, the second version of which will be adopted in 2014, and the Framework Protocol for the Protection of Victims of Human Trafficking was adopted on 28 October 2011.

National Report:
Para 41) After the most recent general elections, the percentage of female deputies in Congress rose from 39.4 to 47.4 per cent, while the percentage of female senators rose from 39.9 to 40.4 per cent. A majority of the ministers (11 out of 17) of the caretaker Government are women. The Ministry of Equality, led by the Deputy Prime Minister, is also headed by a woman. Other positions in institutions established by the Constitution, such as the President of the Congress of Deputies and the Attorney General, are held by women. The ratio of men to women in positions of seniority in government, of which 57.32 per cent are occupied by men and 42.68 per cent by women, is not disproportionately high. Women occupy 44 per cent of senior executive positions and 56 per cent of junior executive positions.

UN Compilation:
Para 53) CEDAW and the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls welcomed the increase in the representation of women in Parliament. However, they also noted the generally low participation of women in political and public life, in particular in decision-making positions at the autonomous community level, in the diplomatic service and in the judiciary.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 69) JS7 noted that the lack of career development opportunities for women exposed them to financial insecurity and inequality in political participation.

National Report:
Para 18) The Government of Spain is firmly committed to promoting gender equality and eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls The legal framework as it pertains to gender-based violence includes Organic Act No. 1/2015, under which forced marriage, harassment, unauthorized disclosure of recordings or private images obtained with the consent of the victim but disclosed without the victim’s knowledge and the disabling of electronic devices used to enforce sentences were made specific offences.
Para 19) Beginning with the entry into force of Organic Act No. 8/2015, the minor children of female victims of gender-based violence were considered direct victims of such violence. Royal Decree-Law No. 9/2018, for its part, strengthened access to effective judicial protection for victims and made it possible to certify a person’s status as a victim of gender-based violence in other ways.
Para 26) The General Commission on Codification submitted a report analysing the definitions of the offences of sexual assault and molestation to determine whether those definitions are useful and technically correct; a linked document on the elimination of sexual molestation as a defined offence punishable by a fine accompanied the report.
Para 27) Eighty-seven per cent of the measures planned as part of the National Strategy for the Elimination of Violence against Women 2013–2016, one of the tools used to combat gender-based violence, were carried out.
Para 28) The year 2017 was a turning point for Spain in respect of violence against women, as it was the year of the adoption of the first National Covenant on Combating Genderbased Violence 2018–2022. The Covenant covers legislative reforms, training, the promotion of the work of the comprehensive forensic assessment units, the recognition of the right to free legal aid and the empowerment of the agencies providing assistance to victims.
Para 29) Instruction No. 4/2019 established a new protocol for assessment by the police of the risk of gender-based violence, victim safety and case follow-up through the VioGén System. Instruction No. 7/2019 established the procedure to be followed by the police in informing foreign women who are victims of gender-based violence of their right to apply for temporary residence and work permits.
Para 30) Records of the number of women killed as a result of gender-based violence have been kept since 2003, and since January 2019 data have been collected on women killed as a result of other forms of violence. A study on the time it takes women victims of gender-based violence to report their situation has been published.
Para 59) … Under Act No. 3/2019,72 the children of victims of gender-based violence and other forms of violence against women are entitled to the benefits to which orphans are entitled, thereby improving their situation.
Para 72) The National Strategy for the Elimination of Violence against Women 2013–2016 led to a closer focus on specialized care for women with disabilities who are victims of gender-based violence and improved accessibility. The third pillar of the National Covenant on Combating Gender-based Violence provides for a series of measures for the protection of women with disabilities.
Para 83) Act No. 2/201792 guaranteed free legal aid, expressly including information on mediation and other extrajudicial means of conflict resolution. For victims of gender-based violence, … free legal aid also includes free advice and orientation immediately prior to the submission of a report or complaint.
Para 100) Organic Act No. 42/2015 established that victims of gender-based violence, terrorism and trafficking in persons are entitled to free legal aid regardless of their economic means, as are minors and persons with intellectual disabilities or mental disorders who are victims of abuse or ill-treatment.
Para 111) The eighth pillar of the National Covenant on Combating Gender-based Violence provides for measures to raise awareness of and respond to other forms of violence against women, including sexual violence, trafficking in women and girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation, female genital mutilation and forced marriage.

UN Compilation:
Para 49) Two treaty bodies welcomed legislative measures to protect women from violence. However, the CEDAW and the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls were concerned by the prevalence of violence against women, including sexual violence, and by the high percentage of women who had died as a result of a gender-based violence in close relationships.
Para 50) [CEDAW] welcomed the decision by the highest court of Spain finding in favour of a victim of domestic violence and reaffirming that Spanish law must incorporate the rights and freedoms of human rights treaties.
Para 61) [CRPD] was concerned about persons with disabilities still living in institutions and, in particular, about women with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities in such institutions being exposed to a high risk of humiliation, abuse and violence, including sexual violence. It was also concerned about reported cases of violence against women with psychosocial disabilities perpetrated by their intimate partners.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 67) JS7 expressed concern about the fact that women continued to fall victim to violence and homicide at the hands of their partner or ex-partner. Fundació de Dones (SURT) regretted that the coordination necessary to implement existing measures to protect women victims of discrimination and violence was lacking.
Para 79) Joint Submission 12 (JS12) welcomed the fact that the situation of women diagnosed with mental disorders was addressed in the National Strategy for the Eradication of Violence against Women. However, they were concerned that this had not been reflected in practice.

National Report:
Para 36) With a view to making progress towards budgets informed by a gender perspective, each year’s national budget is accompanied by a gender impact report.

National Report:
Para 9) In 2010, a major reform of the Spanish Criminal Code was adopted. The reform amended, inter alia, offences against the international community and the offence of human trafficking, which was classified for the first time as a separate offence. It also expressly added trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation and granted special protection to child victims. In addition, it increased the penalties for environmental offences, added the offence of trafficking in human organs and illegal organ transplant, expanded the aggravating circumstances related to discrimination and introduced new articles aimed at providing increased protection for minors against sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, prostitution and child pornography.
Para 10) Proceedings are under way to adopt a new bill amending the Criminal Code that, inter alia ... strengthens protection for victims of gender-based violence, amends the offence of sexual exploitation and forced prostitution, pays special attention to the most vulnerable victims of trafficking and strengthens protection for minors from criminal acts against their sexual freedom.
Para 25) The offence of human trafficking was criminalized in article 177 bis of the Criminal Code through Organic Act No. 5/2010, in which it was classified as a particular offence against the person distinct from the offence of smuggling of migrants. It is a crime of intent and is committed when the act is carried out for purposes of exploitation using any means that would nullify the victim's consent. Exploitation, if it occurs, constitutes an offence separate from that of human trafficking. The crime of sexual exploitation and forced prostitution is regulated by article 188 of the Spanish Criminal Code, and sentences for that offence and for the offence of trafficking may be served consecutively. The aforementioned reform of the Criminal Code included an amendment to the classification of the offence of sexual exploitation and forced prostitution.
Para 58) Special efforts have been and are being made to combat crimes against the sexual freedom of minors. The ongoing reform of the Criminal Code establishes harsher penalties for this type of offence and raises the age of sexual consent to 16 years, thereby fulfilling a recommendation by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and improving the protection that Spain affords to minors, particularly in the effort to control child prostitution. Moreover, causing a child under the age of 16 to witness sexual acts or abuse of other persons has been explicitly criminalized, with sentences of up to 3 years' imprisonment. For crimes involving prostitution, a clearer distinction is drawn between offences against adults and those affecting minors or persons with disabilities, for which the penalties are harsher and to which new aggravating circumstances apply in order to combat the most harmful cases of child prostitution. Particular attention is also paid to punishing child pornography, the legal definition of which is taken from Directive 2011/93/EU. The production and dissemination of such material is punished, as is knowingly attending exhibitionist or pornographic shows involving minors or persons with disabilities.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 23) Joint Submission 7 (JS7) stated that structures must be developed to enable children and adolescents to participate in the process of preparing and assessing action plans and policies on violence prevention and protection against violence, and the commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents, in particular.
Para 31) JS7 considered that, in recent years, progress had been made regarding laws and policies on the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents. The national legislation on trafficking in persons was highly developed; however, more must be done to prepare effective responses ...