Marriage Crisis in Spain Linked to ‘VioGen’ Domestic Violence Law

PRESS RELEASE

Rebecca Hain: +1-513-479-3335

Marriage Crisis in Spain Linked to ‘VioGen’ Domestic Violence Law

February 13, 2023 – Large-scale studies have found that couples who are in a married relationship have substantially lower rates of domestic violence, compared to couples in a non-married, dating relationship (1, 2). Introduction of the domestic violence law known as “VioGen” (3) in Spain precipitated a rapid decline in the marriage rate in that country. This raises the concern that a law designed to reduce partner violence may have actually increased it.

Before the VioGen law came into effect, declines in the Spanish marriage rate per 1,000 persons were small (4):

1980: 5.9 marriages
1990: 5.7 marriages
2000: 5.4 marriages

Following passage of the VioGen law in 2004, Spain witnessed a dramatic decline in its marriage rates:

2005: 4.7 marriages
2010: 3.6 marriages
2020: 1.9 marriages

Before 2004, Spain’s marriage rate was higher than the average for Europe. But now, Spain has the third lowest marriage rate across the continent, according to Eurostat (5). This news triggered widespread debate about the “crisis matrimonial” in Spain (6, 7, 8).

The VioGen law instigated a wave of judicial proceedings against spouses. From 2004 to 2022, more than 2.2 million domestic violence proceedings took place, with more than 1.7 million defendants ending up being declared as innocent (9). In other words, 75% of persons – mostly men — accused of domestic violence and forced to leave their homes were eventually found to be innocent.

News of these legal travesties affected the willingness of men to marry and create families. Fertility rates in Spain have now fallen to 1.23 per woman, far below the replacement rate of 2.1. (10)

An analysis of VioGen reveals three major defects:

Addresses domestic violence only against women, even though research shows men and women are equally likely to be victims of domestic violence (11).
Ignores the presumption of innocence and other due process protections.
Makes no provision for the use of counseling, even though therapy is the recommended approach to address minor instances of domestic abuse (12).

Ironically, the Istanbul Convention, currently being considered by the European Parliament, shares the same three flaws.

The International Coalition for the Defense of the Family has developed a petition that charges the Istanbul Convention “undermines family and marriage.” (13) Likewise, leading Members of the European Parliament have claimed the Convention “generates prejudices and mistrust, making peaceful coexistence within the family impossible.” (14)

The Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance urges Members of the European Parliament to correct the three major defects of the Istanbul Convention before submitting the treaty for a vote.

The Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance – DAVIA — consists of 71 member organizations from 26 countries in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. DAVIA seeks to ensure that domestic violence and abuse polices are science-based, family-affirming, and gender-inclusive. https://endtodv.org/coalitions/davia/

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