Numbers of young people in domestic abuse cases rise

VICTIMS and perpetrators of domestic violence in Alicante Province are getting younger and younger.

The decline in age has been detected in data from the Office of Alicante and the Ministry of Justice in the last three years, with the Office of Victim Assistance also detecting an increase in abuse of underage girls.

In 2014 there were 2,522 violence cases recorded between unmarried couples, and 859 between spouses or former spouses.

Perpetrators are getting younger; the largest increase over recent years has been in the 18 to 30 age range, which has gone from 747 abusers in 2013 to 886 in 2014, and amongst those aged between 31 and 50, where the number has increased from 1,768 in 2013 to 2,090 in 2014. 

Victims are also younger. While the number of complaints from women over 50 has increased slightly since 2012, figures show a marked increase among victims aged between 31 and 50 years.

So far in 2015, four women in Alicante Province have died at the hands of their partner.