SPAIN has been sanctioned by the United Nations for 'negligence' after a seven-year-old girl was murdered by her father, despite her mother having reported the man 50 times for domestic violence.
Ángela Gonález lost her battle for full custody of her daughter Andrea, since the child was not considered a direct victim of domestic abuse – only the mother, who had suffered years of being raped and beaten by her ex-husband.
She says the Spanish justice system has 'failed' her, 'mocked' her and 'laughed in her face', and that the authorities who 'refused to take her seriously' and eventually awarded the father access rights against her will are every bit as guilty of murder as her former partner.
Ángela's ex-husband committed suicide after killing Andrea when she was staying at his house in 2003, and the grieving mother has spent 11 years trying to get justice and recognition – a quest that has led her to the European Union and the United Nations (UN).
This is the first time the Spanish State has been taken to an international court over a domestic violence issue, making the United Nations' verdict an historic one.
“The UN recognises that the justice system's negligence was what led to Andrea's death and that this provides an opportunity for improvement,” says Viviana Waisman, executive director and co-founder of Women's Link International, the group which took Spain to court by filing legal action with the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Ángela González says she managed to get three injunctions on separate occasions against her ex-husband, filed action for psychological abuse, pressed charges after being physically attacked in front of the police, being beaten in the street and being raped, but that in the end 'got nowhere'.
A judge, 'in his wisdom', says Sra González, decided that allowing her ex-husband unsupervised access visits to Andrea was 'in the interests of her father', and has added that she would 'even go as far to say' that the justice system 'couldn't care less' about her daughter's murder.
The UN verdict states that the decisions concerning Andrea's father's visiting rights made by the Spanish courts were 'based upon stereotypes' and 'inflexible standards', or a one-size-fits-all approach, and 'preconceived notions about what constitutes domestic violence'.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com