MADRID, Spain | Across Spain, thousands of police officers have left their uniforms to join special squads dedicated to protecting victims of domestic violence and their children.
Juan Pablo Villarubia is one of these “guardian angels”. He is one of the 350 protective agents of the Madrid Municipal Police’s Women’s Aid and Protection Unit.
The one who has more than 20 years of experience in this special squad wears neither uniform nor weapon “to ensure discretion and privacy” for the victims, he explains.
In Spain, women who denounce a violent partner by filing a complaint are assigned a protective agent, who will accompany them from the beginning to the end of the proceedings. Similarly, police officers who intervene in a scene of domestic violence immediately direct the victim to the specialized unit.
Extreme measures
The role of these officers is above all to ensure the safety of the women. To achieve this, the police work with the computer platform VioGén, for gender violence. The algorithm determines a level of risk, which dictates the protective measures to be put in place for a victim.
“The system has added value: it avoids revictimization and improves coordination. If a woman moves to Valencia, the protective agent who will be assigned to her there will be able to consult all the work done with her without her having to tell her story again”, explains Marta Fernández Ulloa, the head of the unit at Madrid.
Photo Erika Aubin
Policewoman Marta Fernandez Ulloa in her office
In extreme cases, the police will monitor the victim’s home 24 hours a day. The case of a man on the run after assaulting his spouse would fall into this category.
“We can also accompany [les victimes] on their way out to take the children to school. Even when the risk is medium, the agents will pass in front of the home to make sure that she is well and that the abuser is not prowling around, ”explains Juan Pablo Villarubia.
Erika Aubin / JdeM
Juan Pablo Villarubia, protective agent in the Aid and Protection Unit for Women, Minors and Elders at the Municipal Police of Madrid, in his office where he meets the victims.
At any time, victims can contact their protective agent. “And if he’s on leave, someone else from the unit will take care of her.” The service is always available,” says Marta Fernández Ulloa.
“We go all the way with them to get them out of the cycle of violence. Sometimes they take one step forward and two steps back. When they back down, we have to be by their side, without judgement. We know at this time that the risk becomes greater, so we increase the protection, ”explains Chief Ulloa, to illustrate that support for victims is just as important.
Erika Aubin / JdeM
The Municipal Police station of Madrid, on the way to La Chopera, in Spain
Case never closed
The situation of each victim is reassessed regularly by his agent, and protective measures remain in place as long as there is a risk.
“We never close the file completely. If a new episode of violence occurs with the same spouse or a new one, it will remain the same agent who will take care of her, ”specifies Mr. Villarubia, who manages around thirty files at a time.
➢ In 2021, there were 2167 police officers who are part of squads against gender and domestic violence across Spain, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior.
A bond of trust that endures between the police and women
Photo Erika Aubin
Juan Pablo Villarubia, protective agent
Women’s Special Unit officers provide more than just police protection: they develop strong bonds of trust with victims that can last for years.
“I will never forget this sentence he said to me: ‘I believe in your fear behind what you are telling me.'”
Maria met her protective agent, Juan Pablo Villarubia, more than a year ago when she denounced her ex-husband. The policeman changed his life, admits bluntly the mother of four children, who asked to keep her last name secret for her safety.
During the first six months of the legal process, the judge did not issue a restraining order in his case. “I was without legal protection, but Pablo, he was there. He called me every day to make sure everything was fine, ”says the 44-year-old woman.
hard to believe
“We need these frontline officers with sensitivity and education because even I, as a victim, had a hard time believing I was one. In my head, domestic violence was a bruise under my eye. I wasn’t even aware of everything that was going on,” she adds.
She compares the process of denunciation to a staircase: “From the first step to climb, he was there and he pushed me to reach the next”, explains Maria, throwing a look that says a lot about the complicity with her agent.
Eduardo Bonet Ribera, protective agent for the local police of Valencia, also testifies to the bond of trust that unites him to the victims: “Establishing the first contact is the most difficult. You have to gain trust and get him to answer the phone when you call, to trust your advice.”
“It often turns into a consulting relationship for all kinds of issues and not just related to police protection. Contact can last for years,” he says.
Denounce thanks to the agents
Cinthia believes for her part that if she had the courage to denounce her ex-spouse a year ago after yet another episode of violence, it was thanks to the support of the police that evening.
Erika Aubin / JdeM
The Peruvian Cinthia, who denounced her ex-spouse in 2022, looks out of her living room window in her small apartment, in the suburbs of Madrid.
“I wouldn’t have filed a complaint if [les policiers] had not insisted, because he had already done much worse and I had not denounced him”, confides the Madrid native of Peruvian origin.
She hosted Le Journal in a small apartment in Madrid that she shares with her mother and another family. The accommodation is furnished with the bare minimum and the flimsy walls let in cold air easily.
She remembers that at the police station in Madrid, with her face swollen from the beatings and a blue eye, that evening, she was trying to find defeats to leave. The police were of legendary patience, she recounts with emotion.
“I said I was hungry or that I had to go home to take a shower. They even came to my house and waited for me downstairs [pendant ma douche]“, says the mother of a 10-year-old child.
At 2 a.m., after she finally filed her complaint, a judge issued a protective order. His ex no longer had the right to approach him within 500 meters by the trial scheduled for the next few months.
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