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CRIME

How the death of six-year-old Olivia is exposing Spain’s cruellest gender violence 

News that search teams have found the body of six-year-old Olivia, one of the missing sisters kidnapped by their father in Tenerife, is raising awareness about one of the cruellest types of gender violence in Spain: fathers hurting their children to get at the mothers. 

Published: 11 June 2021 13:19 CEST
How the death of six-year-old Olivia is exposing Spain's cruellest gender violence 
Olivia (left) and her one-year-old sister Anna (right) were taken by their father on April 27th. Photo: SOS Desaparecidos

Spanish society is in shock following the tragic news on Thursday night that Olivia’s body had been found in a bag at the bottom of the sea off the coast of the Canary island of Tenerife, weighed down by an anchor from her father’s boat. 

Her one-year-old sister Anna and her father Tomás Gimeno are yet to be located, but given that the 37-year-old’s boat was found drifting the day after their disappearance and the discovery of Olivia’s body, search teams now fear the worst. 

Since news of the kidnapping of the two sisters by their father on April 27th broke, Spaniards have been following the rescue operation closely, hoping that the two young girls would be returned to their mother. Initial investigations pointed to the possibility that Gimeno may have tried to sail with his daughters to either South America or Morocco.

But suspicions that the father’s threats – who told his ex-wife the night of their disappearance  that she would never see the children again – have now been confirmed in the worst possible way. 

The Spanish press are referring to it as violencia vicaria, a type of gender violence by proxy which is aimed at harming a partner where it hurts most – by inflicting damage on their children. 

According to data by Spain’s Observatory against Domestic and Gender Violence, 40 minors have been murdered at the hands of their mothers’ partners or ex-partners since 2013 in Spain. 

Violencia vicaria has been included in Spain’s latest child protection law, la Ley Rhodes, named after the British pianist who pushed for the country to revise its protection of minors. 

A widely shared image posted on social media following the discovery of Olivia’s body, titled “Siempre juntas”, “always together”.

Experts refer to it as the cruellest type of gender violence, seen by the perpetrators as a form of vengeance which inflicts the worst possible harm on a partner after they deem that they’ve wronged them. 

“They don’t have any kind of psychological pathology, they’re extreme sexists, extreme narcissists who do not tolerate being upset because they did not want to separate from their partners and they don’t admit that there’s been a divorce,” psychologist Sonia Vaccaro told Spanish national radio RTVE.

“It is secondary violence to the main victim, which is the woman,” adding that the children are seen as mere instruments for this, and that verbal threats similar to Gimeno’s also count as violencia vicaria. 

This type of domestic violence by proxy is different from filicide, in which a parent murders their child, as its main aim is to hurt the partner or ex-partner. 

“The abuser knows that by harming or murdering her children, he is making sure that the woman will never recover. It is extreme harm”.

On May 24th, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez denounced as “unacceptable” a spike in domestic violence that saw five women murdered over the course of a week by their partners or ex-partners.

Spain has brought in tighter laws against gender violence in recent years but barely a week goes by in the country without the news of another murder or beating. 

“There is a deficit of awareness,” Miguel Lorente, former Government Delegate for Gender Violence, is quoted as saying by Spain’s Association of Families. 

“There are many debates about gender violence but they do not translate into awareness because the information is not adequate. 

“If we talk about 700 women murdered in the last decade in Spain, we also have to talk about 700 murderers. And we don’t”.

Olivia’s heart wrenching death may not be in vain if the wickedness of violencia vicaria in Spain is stopped in its tracks with greater protection for children trapped in the middle of situations of gender violence.

As a sign of optimism, the child protection law which comes into force on June 24th stipulates that the judge will now be able to suspend visiting right when a protection order for gender violence is issued, or if there are indications that the children have witnessed or suffered abuse.

Read more about gender violence in Spain 

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CRIME

Dutch gang leader vanishes in Spain after accidental release

A top drug trafficker is on the run after accidentally being bailed from jail in Spain, officials said Tuesday, dodging a bid to extradite him to the Netherlands where his Mocro Maffia gang is based.

Published: 24 April 2024 09:23 CEST
Dutch gang leader vanishes in Spain after accidental release

Karim Bouyakhrichan was arrested in January in Marbella, an upmarket tourist resort on Spain’s southern coast, along with five other members of the Mocro Maffia gang.

They are suspected of having bought 172 properties in Spain worth over €50 million ($53.5 million) to launder their gains from drug trafficking.

But the following month a court in the southern city of Málaga decided to grant him provisional release with judicial supervision, against the wishes of public prosecutors and the Spanish government. Judicial sources said Tuesday his whereabouts are now unknown.

“It is worrying news,” Justice Félix Bolaños told a news conference following a weekly cabinet meeting when asked about the case.

“I can’t comment on any court decisions, but I do trust that the state security forces will bring this person to justice as soon as possible,” he added.

The Málaga court said in its ruling granting Bouyakhrichan provisional release that the risk that he would flee could be avoided “with other less burdensome security measures” than pre-trial detention.

It imposed bail of €50,000, took away his passport and ordered him to report to the authorities twice a month.

Dutch extradition bid

At the same time Spain’s top criminal court was processing a request for Bouyakhrichan’s extradition to the Netherlands, where he is wanted for large-scale drug trafficking.

But it postponed its extradition proceedings because the Málaga court intended to put Bouyakhrichan on trial first for money laundering, court sources told AFP.

When the Netherlands provided more information to back its extradition request, the top court summoned him to testify and when he failed to appear a fresh warrant for his arrest was issued.

Vincent Veenman, a spokesman at the Dutch public prosecutor’s office in The Hague, said it was “unknown” to them why Bouyakhrichan had not been detained for extradition.

“We are currently awaiting a decision on the extradition request,” he added.

“Our experience with the Spanish justice system is that this cooperation is generally good. Dozens of suspects are handed over every year.”

Bouyakhrichan’s brother Samir, another leading member of the Mocro Maffia, was murdered in 2014 near Marbella, sparking a reorganisation of organised crime groups in the region.

The Mocro Maffia made international headlines in 2022 after it emerged that Dutch Crown Princess Amalia had been placed under heavy protection in response to fears of an attack by the group.

Dutch media reported earlier last week that the 20-year-old heir to the Dutch throne studied in Madrid after being forced to ditch plans to live in student accommodation in Amsterdam because of the threats.

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