Nursing’s Role in Combating Violence Against Women in Spain
Violence Against Women: A Global Human Rights Violation
“Violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation, which knows no boundaries of geography, culture, or wealth. And, while it continues, we cannot really say that there has been progress towards equality, development, and peace.” These words, borrowed from former Secretary-General of the United Nations Organization (UN) Kofi Annan, initiate this article. It aims to provide society with professional nursing training to contribute, from our commitment, to ending what, according to the UN, is the most covert crime prevalent in the world: violence against women.
The Staggering Statistics of Domestic Violence
Studies estimate that between 20% and 60% of all women worldwide have suffered physical violence from their partner or another family member. There is no geographical area in the world where domestic violence does not occur; it is, therefore, a universal problem. In Spain, the numbers are staggering. We all have in memory what is known as the “Black Tuesday” of gender violence, a day in which four women were killed in Cadiz, Madrid, Valencia, and Valladolid. Twenty is the number of fatalities so far this year in Spain. In 2007, there were 99.
The Need for Action and Social Awareness
Although statistics confirm that in Spain a woman dies every three days because of violence against women, it took four deaths in just 24 hours to react to political parties and include this social scourge at rallies. The debate about the usefulness of the laws, such as the Comprehensive Law against Gender Violence, has been reopened. This debate is needed, but we should move away from the bitter electoral battle and increase social awareness about an issue that, far from moderating, is growing. The extent of violence against women is enormous, and the consequences are suffered not only by them but also by their children, their families, and society as a whole.
Addressing the Legal and Social Aspects
If we tackle the legal aspect, we need more financial and human resources: strengthening law enforcement tools to prevent and react to threats and having more flexibility in the responses. But we must also take effective measures in social programs and education, since much remains to be done in the field of education and awareness against macho habits that still survive in Spanish society. Action is needed before the problem is generated and eventually triggers a drama that is played out with excessive frequency.
Nursing’s Crucial Role in Prevention and Detection
In that effort in education and prevention, among the different professional groups that need to be involved in gender violence, nursing plays a primary role. At a rate above 90%, nursing professionals are women, enabling a higher level of complicity with the victims, who are also women. Our performance, both in primary care and specialized care, places us close to the patient and, therefore, places us in a privileged way in preventing violent acts, detecting abuse, and caring for women victims of violence. With proper training, nurses can contribute to solving this problem in its initial phase when the abuses are being generated.
This is the commitment we have set since CECOVA (Council of Colleges of Nursing of Valencia): to raise awareness among nurses in the fight against gender violence and give them the right tools for the detection of possible cases. Due to the vulnerability that women have, we must be able to be alert and detect signs (wounds, injuries, bruises, etc.) and symptoms (anxiety, fear, low self-esteem) to respond properly and avoid serious situations and even death. Therefore, CECOVA has designated 2008 as the Year of Nursing against Gender Violence, a commitment backed by several actions to be developed as part of a corporate campaign, for which there will be coordination and participation of the three professional schools (Valencia, Alicante, and Castellón).