Orphaned children: the forgotten victims of gender violence

Joshua Alonso lost his mother six years ago at the hands of his ex-partner. At the age of 25, he had to take care of his eight-year-old brother. They are one of the 391 orphans of domestic violence in Spain since 2013. The last one, a six-year-old boy whose mother was murdered on March 3 in Zaragoza.

“When I hear any news about gender violence, especially if there are orphans from domestic violence, I wonder if things are being done as they should be done. If these boys and girls are being protected… They are largely forgotten because They can’t raise their voices.” Joshua says.

Now she works with the little ones to break gender stereotypes and also fights for the rights of orphaned minors; the forgotten victims of sexist violence.

It was not until 2015 that these orphans were recognized as direct victims of gender violence. Since then, efforts have been made to advance so that they have access to a decent orphan’s pension.

“The most important thing is that we ensure that the personal, educational, emotional development… above all educational and the personal autonomy of these boys and girls is affected as little as possible. In other words, we could not protect their mothers but we do have a responsibility that these people do not live in poverty,” Marisa Soleto, director of Women’s Foundation and secretary of Soledad Cazorla Scholarship Fund for orphans of gender violence.

But it is not only the economic repair. Fanny Sánchez Juan works with survivors of gender violence so that they can overcome a trauma with which they must learn to live for the rest of their lives.

“The first thing is that you have lost your mother, of course, you have lost the primary link, the most trusted link, and you have also lost your father. We call him a father but I really like to differentiate: a father is the who takes care of you, a father who has killed your mother is not a father. You are left without everything that sustained you,” explains clinical psychologist Fanny Sánchez Juan.

The feminist movement takes to the streets again this March 8 to demand an end to sexist violence. But despite all the efforts, this has been a dramatic start to the year. 2023 already leaves ten women murdered and 14 orphaned minors due to gender violence.

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