A victim of domestic violence in Spain was shocked to learn that her abusive partner had changed his legal sex, thus protecting him from certain charges associated with male violence against women. The story first came to light at the end of July, from the small town of Redondela – a community in the northwest.
On July 24, police in the area received a call from a woman pleading for help because her husband was physically assaulting her. When the officers went to the house, they found a scene indicating violence, including reddened marks on the woman’s chest.
But when officers went to arrest the man, he boasted that he was “now a woman,” and showed them his identity documents to prove it. He had not changed his legal name or appearance in any way.
The declaration was significant because it meant officers could not charge the man with gender-based violence – a specific charge which emerged in Spain to tackle the nation’s overwhelming struggle with femicide and domestic violence. While only men who have assaulted or murdered women can be charged with gender-based violence due to the law recognizing a strength difference between men and women, Spain’s liberal attitudes towards gender self-identification have resulted in men avoiding these charges by changing their legal sex marker.
As the perpetrator had changed his legal gender marker, the only remaining option was to charge him with domestic violence – a broader category of intimate partner aggression that removes the strength distinction. While both gender-based violence and domestic violence are similarly serious criminal matters, gender-based violence charges provide the female victim important protections and resolutions which can impact divorce or separation proceedings, custody, and other factors.
Ultimately, both the man and his wife were arrested for mutual domestic assault and spent the night in prison. The next day, they appeared before the court, and the judge processed the case as domestic violence. Nor were any precautionary measures adopted because neither the Prosecutor’s Office nor the involved parties requested it.
As a result, the judge dismissed the case, leaving both free.
Speaking to Faro de Vigo, sources close to the case expressed concerns about what transpired and its implications.
“This is something very worrying; we would not dare to say that it is a fraud of law, because the truth is that the law exists and allows such a change, but we find ourselves with a person to whom certain crimes that punish violence against women cannot be applied and with an alleged victim who cannot benefit from the aid and support that is legally offered in cases of gender violence.”
In February of 2022, the Spanish government enacted what is colloquially known as the “Trans Law,” which instituted a “no questions asked” policy for those who declared they were transgender. The law also made it significantly easier for individuals to change their name and legal sex, hastening the process for applicants and removing any medical requirements.
Since the institution of the law, Spain has seen an explosion in concerns about a rise in “trans fraud,” in which men change their legal sex marker simply to gain legal or professional benefits.
In Ceuta, a small Spanish autonomous city located in the North African coast, 37 male civil servants are known to have changed their registered sex in order to obtain benefits assigned to women. Most of these men do not change their name, and retain a “male-presenting” appearance.
Men have also been using the law to their advantage in their interactions with justice system.
As previously reported by Reduxx, a man in Catalonia who abused his female partner avoided charges of gender-based violence by legally changing his identification to “female” and adopting a woman’s name just prior to being prosecuted.
The couple, who were in their 60s, had been together for 11 years, but after the man began expressing an interest in crossdressing and other extreme fetishes, the woman asked to break off their intimate relationship.
He then became violent towards her and began sexually and physically abusing her in retaliation for her refusal to participate in his kinks.
After seeking help with the police, the woman discovered he had already changed his legal sex marker, and thus she would not be provided any protections for female victims of male crime.
