On Wednesday 22 November, at a press conference, the Hospital Clínic Barcelona presented the data on cases of sexual violence treated in the A&E Department from the beginning of the year until 31 October. A total of 587 cases of sexual assault have been treated at the Hospital Clínic, 5.6% more than in the same period last year. The press conference was led by Dr. Josep Maria Campistol, director general of the Hospital, Dr. Lluïsa Garcia Esteve, psychiatrist and president of the Commission on Domestic and Gender –Based Violence, and Teresa Echeverría, nurse and founder of the Commission. The Hospital Clínic published these data to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, to be celebrated on Saturday 25 November.
The data published today by the Hospital Clínic show that in the cases treated this year there has been more associated physical violence, since physical injuries have been recorded in 37% of the women (last year this figure stood at 20%). However, the data also show that once again only half of the victims have already filed a complaint or intend filing one.
With regard to the cases treated in which there are indicators that the assailant used chemical submission, the data reveal that at least 1 out of 5 sexual assaults is suspected to be facilitated by drugs. Since the start of the year, the A&E Department has also found that 3.7% of the assaults (n=22) have been on homeless people. Of the total, 15 were women and 7 were men. Seven out of all the assaults on homeless people were gang assaults.
The Hospital Clínic Commission on Domestic and Gender-Based Violence that published the data today also stated that 60% of the women were raped (vaginal, anal and/or oral penetration) and that 45.8% of the assaults were perpetrated against individuals under 25 years of age.
Dr. Josep M. Campistol described this situation as “dramatic and intolerable. So far this year we have treated 587 victims of sexual assault and, by the end of 2023, we shall be talking about around 700 people. And these are the people who have come in for treatment, but there are bound to be more”. “It is dramatic that, year after year, the figures rise and the situation gets worse. At the hospital, we want to call on society as a whole to intervene and promote legislation and educational changes to reverse this trend", he added.
Dr. Lluïsa Garcia Esteve, president of the Commission on Domestic and Gender-Based Violence stressed that, “the sexual violence care circuit in the field of healthcare in Barcelona is consolidated. Citizens and agents—Mossos d’Esquadra (Catalan police force), SEM (medical emergencies system), CUAPs (primary care A&E centres), health centres, private clinics—know, trust and work with the Hospital Clínic Barcelona as a referral centre”. “Centralized care allows for the application of a multidisciplinary and comprehensive protocol that provides continuity of care, prioritizes health, makes it possible to obtain data in a rigorous manner and facilitates criminal proceedings”, she concluded. Dr. Garcia Esteve explained that “at the Hospital Clínic we continue with the comprehensive model of care for sexual violence that includes: urgent care and the programme for following up infectious diseases and the monitoring of and recovery from psychological sequelae. Violence causes illness and leads to short- and long-term health problems; health is a priority in sexual violence”.
Referral centre for the care of sexual violence victims in the city of Barcelona
The Hospital Clínic Barcelona is the referral centre for A&E Department treatment of victims of sexual assault over 16 years of age in the city of Barcelona. The Hospital Clínic has a comprehensive model for urgent care and the monitoring of health recovery.
The protocol applied in urgent care involves professionals from different areas: nursing; social work; gynaecology; surgery; psychiatry; and specialists in infectious diseases, etc. This protocol organizes immediate response in a sequential series of multidisciplinary actions that focuses on the victim’s needs, offering support, respect in decision-making and avoiding secondary victimization.
The Hospital Clínic de Barcelona maintains that violence causes illness and that sexual violence involves health risks, leads to new illnesses and short- and long-term mental health problems. The post-traumatic sequelae can appear immediately after the assault, or weeks or months later, and in all cases require assessment and intervention.
