The need to criminalize gender-based economic violence in the Spanish Penal Code

Abstract

Economic violence against women is gender-based violence according to the Istanbul Convention. The main Spanish law against gender violence (LO 1/2004) does not mention economic violence and the Criminal Code in Spain has not been modified by Parliament to introduce it despite being bound by the Istanbul Convention. Law Catalan 17/2020 (reforms Law 5/2008 about the right of women to eradicate gender violence) includes economic violence as one of the forms of gender violence but has no competence to modify the Criminal Code of the Spanish state. Sentence of the Criminal Court nº 2 of Mataró (Barcelona-Spain), of July 22th, 2021 in which, after the conviction of a man for the non-payment of alimony, the Judge exercises a pioneer legislative initiative. There is no precedent in any other country. She is asking the Government of Spain for a legislative change that recognizes economic violence as gender violence. By postulating a legislative change, it is the culmination of judging with a gender (and childhood) perspective by identifying the context of gender violence in which the non-payment of the maintenance obligation takes place in this case and its use to achieve the economic restriction of the mother and daughter perpetuating a situation of gender violence through the economic violence.