In Spain, there is an important difference between domestic violence and gender-based violence. Domestic violence is exercised within the family environment, irrespective of who are the passive and active subjects of the same, as long as it belongs to the family environment. Conversely, gender-based violence is defined as violence against women by virtue of being so, exercised by a man against a woman who is or has been his spouse, or who is or has been related to him by a bond analogous to marriage, even without coexistence (i.e., it must be violence exerted as a manifestation of discrimination, the situation of inequality and the power relations of men over women).

In the context of domestic violence, the victims of abuse, in practice, are mostly minors, disabled or other especially vulnerable people within the family, vulnerability that comes from a position of objective dependency (by age, disability, etc.). Gender-based violence constitutes a specific category of violence associated with the position of power that men still occupy in the current social structure.

Hence, these terms should not be confused, since there are specific provisions that apply only to gender-based violence (e.g., Comprehensive Protection Against Gender-Based Violence Law) while the regulations that cover domestic violence also protect victims of gender-based violence.

For the purposes of this analysis, we will analyze most of the questions based on the concept of gender-based violence, since we understand this is the specific focus of the Council of Europe's Istanbul Convention (2011) preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence and of this analysis. However, we include below a definition of all terms for a better understanding:

Domestic violence

This refers to all acts of physical, sexual, psychological or economic violence that occur in the family, or in the home, or between spouses or former or current partners, regardless of whether there has been cohabitation.

Gender-based violence

This refers to any act of physical or psychological violence, including crimes against sexual freedom, threats, coercion or arbitrary privation of freedom, perpetrated by a woman's spouse or ex-spouse or by the person with whom she holds or held a similar relationship of affectivity, even without cohabitation.^[2] Gender-based violence is exerted by aman against a woman. The violence exerted by a woman against a man and violence between homosexual or intra-gender couples are excluded from the concept of gender-based violence (it constitutes domestic violence).

This means carrying out repeatedly and insistently, and without being legitimately authorized, any of the following behaviors and, in this way, seriously altering the development of the victim's daily life: (i) watching or chasing a person or seeking his/her physical closeness; (ii) establishing or trying to establish contact with a person through any means of communication or through third parties; (iii) improperly using the person's personal data, purchasing products or merchandise, or contracting services, or having third parties contact a person; and (iv) endangering a person's freedom or estate, or the freedom or estate of a person close to the victim.^[3]

Harassment

This means degrading another person, seriously undermining their moral integrity and carrying out hostile or humiliating acts that, without constituting degrading treatment, are intended to prevent legitimate life enjoyment.^[4]

Sexual harassment

This refers to any behavior, verbal or physical, of a sexual nature that has the purpose of violating or produces the violation of a person's dignity, in particular, when an intimidating, degrading or offensive environment is created.^[5]

Gender-based harassment

This refers to any behavior performed on the basis of a person's gender, with the purpose or effect of violating his/her dignity and creating an intimidating, degrading or offensive environment.^[6]

Sexual harassment offense

This means requesting favors of a sexual nature for oneself or for a third party in the context of an employment, teaching or service relationship, whether continuous or habitual, and such behavior causes the victim an objective and seriously intimidating, hostile or humiliating situation.^[7]

As briefly explained above, the definition of victim depends on whether it is domestic violence or whether it is gender-based violence.

• Victim of domestic violence: Victims of domestic violence could be: (i) a spouse or ex-spouse or person with whom they hold or held a similar relationship of affectivity, even without cohabitation; (ii) descendants, ancestors or siblings by nature, adoption or affinity, or of the spouse or partner; (iii) minors or people with disabilities in need of special protection who live with him/her or under his/her care (including guardianship and foster care), or of the spouse or partner; (iv) any other person integrated in the family; or (v) people who due to their special vulnerability are subject to custody or custody in public or private centers.^[8]
• Victim of gender-based violence: Any woman who is or has been a spouse or who is or has been linked to the aggressor man by an analogous affective relationship, even without coexistence, as well as another especially vulnerable person who lives with the aggressor.
• Victim: For the purposes of the Statute of the Victim of the Crime Law and, specifically to enjoy the rights and guarantees established in said law, the following definitions apply. A "direct victim" is defined as "any person who has suffered damage or harm to his/her own person or property, in special physical or mental injuries, emotional damages or economic damages directly caused by the commission of a crime." An "indirect victim," in case of the death or disappearance of a person, directly caused by a crime (except for those responsible for the facts) refers to: (a) the spouse and children of the victim or of the spouse who lived with them, any person with an analogous relationship of affection, their parents and relatives in a straight line or collateral within the third degree who are under their guardianship, and children under their guardianship or foster care; or (b) in the absence of the above, the other relatives in a straight line and to their siblings, preferably, among them, the one who will hold the legal representation of the victim.

In the context of gender-based violence, an abuser is man who has been a woman's spouse or ex-spouse or a person with whom a woman holds or held a similar relationship of affectivity, even without cohabitation, who perpetrated domestic violence against a woman.

It is a judicial resolution in the form of an order that confirms the existence of an objective situation of risk for the victim of domestic violence and orders their protection during the processing of a criminal process for a crime or misdemeanor, through the adoption of criminal and/or civil precautionary measures, while communication is made to the competent authorities for the adoption of social assistance and protection measures. The scope of the protection order is exclusively the scope of domestic and gender-based violence and only for the investigation of crimes against life, crimes against physical and moral integrity, crimes against sexual freedom and freedom or security.^[9]

This refers to a set of facts sufficient to justify the right of the gender violence victim to sue her aggressor.

This means carrying out actions against sexual freedom through violence or intimidation that involves vaginal, anal or oral carnal access, or the introduction of limbs or objects through the vagina or anus, regardless of whether the victim is a woman or a man.^[10] There is no conjugal duty in the marriage or for the couple, so a conjugal relationship exercised with violence or intimidation constitutes rape as defined above.^[11]

Comprehensive protection measures

Victims of gender-based violence, as defined in Section 1 of the Comprehensive Protection Against Gender-Based Violence Law, are entitled to the rights and comprehensive social assistance established in the Comprehensive Protection Against Gender-Based Violence Law. The purposes of the comprehensive protection measures are to prevent, punish and eradicate this violence and assist women, their minor children and minors subject to their guardianship, or guardianship and custody, who are victims of this violence. The rights and comprehensive social assistance include: (i)information rights; (ii) comprehensive social assistance; (iii) free legal assistance; (iv) employment and social security benefits; (v)rights for civil servant women; and (vi) economic rights.

Comprehensive social assistance

The comprehensive social assistance granted by virtue of the Comprehensive Protection Against Gender-Based Violence Law include assistance and emergency care, help and support and full recovery for victims of gender-based violence, such as information to victims, psychological care, social support, following up claims of women's rights, educational support for the family unit, preventive training in the values of equality aimed at personal development and the acquisition of skills in nonviolent conflict resolution, and support for training and job placement.

The situation of gender-based violence that activates the rights and comprehensive social assistance regulated in the Comprehensive Protection Against Gender-Based Violence Law will be accredited: (i) by a sentence condemning the crime of gender-based violence; (ii) a protection order or any other judicial resolution that imposes a precautionary measure in the victim's favor; (iii) a report from the public prosecutor that indicates there is evidence that the claimant is the victim of gender-based violence; or (iv) reports from social services, specialist services, support services for victims of gender-based violence of the competent public administration or any other form of accreditation that may be included in the regulatory provisions of the sector that covers access to each of these resources and rights.