The bill would recognize and punish vicarious violence against women

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1. The bill defines vicarious violence as violence exercised against a woman's children, descendants or other loved ones to cause her pain or suffering, and recognizes it as a form of gender-based violence. It also identifies as victims the women themselves, their children and descendants, and minors under their guardianship or custody.
2. The bill adds vicarious violence as an aggravating circumstance of the gender-based crime, allowing higher sentences when a loved one is harmed to make a woman suffer. It also creates a new penalty barring the convicted person from publishing or spreading messages, texts or images related to the crime, applicable only to serious crimes against life, integrity, freedom or sexual freedom.
3. The bill reforms the Civil Code to provide for the removal of parental authority when there is a final conviction for a serious crime against the couple's children or against the offender's wife or partner. It also allows courts to grant sole parental authority to the non-abusive parent when there are founded signs of violence, limits shared custody if it could harm the children, and requires that minors be heard before custody and visitation decisions.
4. The bill strengthens training for judges and prosecutors on vicarious violence and on gender, childhood, disability and intersectional perspectives, both at the Judicial School and in entrance exams and continuing education. Judges working in gender violence or family courts would receive mandatory, periodic specialized training.
5. The bill adds a minor's exposure to vicarious violence as a risk indicator in child legal protection, brings parental authority cases under a special procedural framework, and requires that vicarious violence be included in the training of teachers, health personnel and social services staff.
6. The bill allows the mother of a child killed through vicarious violence to change the deceased child's surnames, and those of other minor children, to break the nominal link with the aggressor. It also prevents anyone who kills a child or loved one of the person generating a benefit from receiving Social Security survivor benefits.

Who it affects

• Women who are victims of gender-based violence: They would receive reinforced protection against vicarious violence, and their abusers could face higher sentences.
• Children and teenagers: They would have a guaranteed right to be heard in court proceedings affecting them and greater protection against visitation with the aggressor.
• Parents or partners convicted of serious crimes: They could lose parental authority, lose visitation rights, be barred from publishing content about the crime, and be denied survivor benefits.
• Judges, prosecutors, teachers, and health and social services personnel: They would receive mandatory training on vicarious violence and on gender, childhood, disability and intersectional perspectives.
• Adults with disabilities who need support: They would be recognized as possible victims of vicarious violence and would have the right to be heard in proceedings affecting them.

Words worth knowing

Violencia vicaria (vicarious violence)

Violence exercised against a woman's children or other loved ones to cause her harm or suffering.

Patria potestad (parental authority)

The set of rights and duties parents have over their minor children, such as caring for, educating and representing them.

Guarda y custodia (custody)

A court decision on who the minor children live with and who cares for them when parents separate.

Delito doloso (intentional crime)

A crime committed on purpose, with intent to do it.

Prestaciones de muerte y supervivencia (death and survivor benefits)

Social Security pensions paid to the relatives of a deceased person.

It summarizes the text as it was introduced. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries