Bill on measures concerning vicarious violence
File 121/000106 · tabled on 17 July 2026
What it proposes
To strengthen the response to vicarious violence —violence inflicted on a woman’s children or others close to her in order to harm her— through changes to ten pieces of legislation. On the criminal side, the text brings these cases within the gender-based aggravating circumstance of section 22.4 of the Criminal Code and creates a new penalty: a ban on publishing or disseminating content related to the offence. Beyond the Criminal Code, it expressly defines vicarious violence in Organic Law 1/2004 and amends, among others, the Criminal Procedure Act, the Judiciary Act, the Civil Code and the Statute of the Victim.
Parliamentary stage
- Current stage
- Equality Committee — amendments stage
- Checked on
- File number
- 121/000106
- Text as tabled
- Official gazette · file 121/000106
The stage shown is the one recorded in the Congress open data on the date indicated. A bill in progress is not law: until it is eventually published in the official state gazette, the text in force set out below applies.
What would change, section by section
On the left, the text in force checked against the consolidated version; on the right, what the tabled text says.
Art. 22.4 CP
Text in force
It is an aggravating circumstance to commit the offence on racist, antisemitic or anti-Roma grounds or for another kind of discrimination, including gender-based reasons, whether or not those conditions are actually present in the victim. The provision does not spell out any case of an offence committed against third persons to harm a woman.
Text as tabled
The current wording stays and a paragraph is added: the gender-based aggravating circumstance will apply, among other cases, where a current or former spouse or partner of the woman, even without cohabitation, commits the offence intending to cause her harm or suffering against (a) her children or descendants, or minors or adults with disabilities under her parental authority, guardianship, curatorship, foster care, custody or other support measures; (b) her ascendants or siblings by blood, adoption or affinity; or (c) her spouse or partner, even without cohabitation.
Arts. 33.2, 39, 48 CP
Text in force
The list of penalties includes none banning the dissemination of content about the offence. Section 48.4 allows the bans on residence, approaching and communicating to be monitored electronically.
Text as tabled
A new penalty banning the publication or dissemination of messages, texts, images or other content directly related to the offence: the offender could not disseminate them or pass them to others for that purpose, in order to prevent harm to the victim’s dignity or psychological harm. It would be a serious penalty above five years (new point (k) of section 33.2) and would be listed among the penalties depriving of rights (new point (i) of section 39). The court would have to specify and give reasons for its scope (new section 48.4), and electronic monitoring would move to section 48.5.
Art. 57.1 CP
Text in force
For the offences it lists —including homicide, bodily harm, offences against freedom, sexual freedom and indemnity, or family relations— the court may impose the section 48 bans in its judgment for up to ten years if the offence is serious or five if less serious; alongside imprisonment, they must last between one and ten, or one and five, years longer than the prison term.
Text as tabled
The new ban under section 48.4 could only be imposed for serious offences against life, physical or mental integrity, freedom or sexual freedom. The text also replaces the reference to “sexual freedom and indemnity” with “sexual freedom”.
Art. 70.3 CP
Text in force
Where the penalty one degree higher exceeds the Code’s limits, it sets a maximum for each penalty: 30 years for imprisonment and disqualification, 20 for the bans on residence, approaching and communicating, and 30 months for fines, among others.
Text as tabled
The new ban on publishing or disseminating content would be added, with a maximum of 20 years (new item 9); fines would move to item 10.
Art. 14.8 LECrim
Text in force
Section 14 of the Criminal Procedure Act sets the competent court in each case and currently has seven subsections. Subsection 7 gives the Violence against Women Section the facts that the Violence against Children and Adolescents Section could also hear.
Text as tabled
A new subsection 8: where the facts under investigation by the Violence against Children and Adolescents Section could also be heard by the Investigating Section, jurisdiction would lie in every case with the former. The bill adds the same rule as subsection 8 of section 89 bis of the Judiciary Act.
Who it affects
Women who are victims of gender-based violence and those close to them —children, other relatives and a current partner— and any current or former partner investigated for an offence against those people committed to harm her: the gender-based aggravating circumstance would expressly cover such cases and, for serious offences against life, integrity, freedom or sexual freedom, the new ban on disseminating content could also be imposed.
Related pages
Source: the text published in the official parliamentary gazette and the Congress of Deputies open data on legislative initiatives. Informational content; it does not replace the study of a specific case.
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