400,000 are currently being abused by their partners.

Four hundred thousand women in Spain currently suffer abuse from their partners, and 1.5 million have been victims of domestic violence at some time in their lives.

The figures come from the Gender Violence Observatory, a body which is linked to the General Council for Judicial Power. It is currently holding its fourth congress in the Spanish Senate, where experts on matters relating to domestic violence are meeting until Thursday.

The Observatory’s president, Inmaculada Montalbán, told the press at the start of the congress that, ‘Education is the vaccine against violence’. She said teenagers must learn not to reproduce ‘the machista example of the past’, with education both in the home and at school, as well as through the media.

She noted that eight out of every ten women do not report their situation of abuse to the authorities. Montalbán also urged that, despite the economic crisis, cutbacks should not affect the welfare assistance which is currently available to the victims of violence.

Source:www.typicallyspanish.com