Victims of gender-based violence have the right to comprehensive social assistance (Article 19 of Organic Law 1/2004, of December 28, on Comprehensive Protection Measures Against Gender-Based Violence Article 156 of the Civil Code.), which includes social services for attention, emergency support, shelter, and full recovery. These services must adhere to the principles of continuous care, urgent action, specialization of services, and multidisciplinary professional involvement. The aim of these services is to meet the needs arising from the situation of violence, restore the victim’s condition to what it was before the violence, or at least mitigate its effects.
Through these services, women can:
- Receive advice on the actions they can take and their rights.
- Be informed about the services available for material, medical, psychological, and social assistance.
- Access various accommodation resources (emergency, temporary shelter, supervised centers, etc.) where their safety is guaranteed and their basic needs are met.
- Recover their physical and/or psychological health.
- Achieve training, employment insertion or reinsertion, and receive psycho-social support throughout their recovery journey to avoid double victimization.
The right to comprehensive social assistance is also recognized for minors living in family environments where gender-based violence exists. Social services must ensure a sufficient number of places for minors and staff trained specifically in their care to prevent and effectively avoid situations that could cause psychological or physical harm to them.
For psychological care and assistance for minor children, when a conviction has been issued and until the criminal responsibility is extinguished, or when criminal proceedings have been initiated against one of the parents for attacking the life, physical integrity, freedom, moral integrity, or sexual freedom and indemnity of their minor children, or for attacking the other parent, the consent of the other parent is sufficient, provided that the first parent is informed beforehand. If assistance is to be provided to children over sixteen years of age, their explicit consent will be required in all cases.
The organization of services to implement this right is the responsibility of the Autonomous Communities and the Cities of Ceuta and Melilla, as well as Local Corporations.
For this purpose, the Referral Protocol between the Autonomous Communities for coordinating their networks of shelters for women victims of gender-based violence and their children (2014) facilitates the mobility of women victims of gender-based violence and their children between shelters in different Autonomous Communities, either for security reasons for the woman or children under her care, or to support their social recovery.
Source: Guide of Rights for Women Victims of Gender-Based Violence (2021), prepared by the Delegation of the Government against Gender-Based Violence.