Yes, lawyers can present evidence of battered woman syndrome or similar mental disorders suffered by the battered woman to justify crimes based on legitimate self-defense or loss of control.

Spanish courts are reluctant to apply the total exoneration of self-defense to justify the crime committed by the battered woman, given the difficulty to prove that the three components of self-defense are met, namely: (i) the imminent and actual danger for the woman at the moment she committed the crime; (ii) the proportionality of the means used by the woman to commit the crime; and (iii) the woman's intention to protect her own life against the imminent danger.

Alternatively, lawyers can use the evidence of battered woman syndrome (or similar) to justify the loss of control of the woman when she committed the crime. With this alternative, the lawyers would justify that the woman committed the crime in a moment of a total lack of consciousness.

The Spanish employment rights of women victims of gender-based violence are aimed at avoiding their expulsion from the labor market because of the violence they suffered rather than to protect them from this situation.

Women victims of gender-based violence have recognized rights conducive to reconciling their jobs with the situation of gender-based violence, guaranteeing their protection if they are forced to give up their jobs temporarily or permanently and, if unemployed, ensuring their insertion in the labor market, as follows:

1. Women have the right to a reduction of the working day with a proportional reduction in salary or the reorganization of working time by rescheduling the hours, working flextime or through other forms of organizing the working time used in the respective company so that women can effectively enforce their protection and their right to comprehensive social assistance.
2. Women who are forced to leave their place of work where they have been employed in order to ensure their protection of the right to integral social assistance have the right to geographic mobility and they will have preferential rights to occupy another position in the same or equivalent professional group or category that the company has at any of its premises. The company must retain their jobs during the first six months.
3. An employee who has to leave their place of work as a consequence of suffering gender-based violence has the right to demand the suspension of the employment contract, with the retention of the position.
4. An employee who has to leave their place of work as a consequence of suffering gender-based violence may demand the right to terminate the employment contract.
5. Female employees who are victims of gender-based violence have the right to request the nullity of a contract termination if they wish to exercise their right to a reduction or reorganization of their working hours, geographical mobility, change of their place of work or suspension of the contract under the terms and conditions recognized under the Workers' Statute.
6. Female employees have the right to request the nullity of a disciplinary dismissal if they wish to exercise their right to a reduction or reorganization of their working hours, geographical mobility, change of their place of work or suspension of the contract under the terms and conditions recognized under the Worker's Statute.

Employees' rights in items (i) to (iv) are rights that employees' suffering gender-based violence can request from their companies without needing court involvement. However, if companies refuse to grant them, employees would need to sue their companies to enforce their rights.

Additionally, there are rights in the areas of social security contributions and benefits for women victims of gender-based violence, as well as rights in the areas of employment and insertion in the labor market (e.g., special employment programs, incentives to companies hiring women victims of  gender-based violence, etc.).

For an employee's misbehavior to be fair grounds for termination, it must take place in the work environment or workplace or somehow affect the company.

Therefore, if actions of domestic violence or gender-based violence take place in the workplace, or between two employees of the same company around the company's premises or during working hours, those facts could be deemed as fair grounds for disciplinary dismissal of the aggressor employee.

For example, sexual harassment and gender-based harassment against the employer or against any employee of the company is specifically included among the grounds that justify a fair disciplinary dismissal in labor law (however, as there is an open list of grounds justifying disciplinary dismissals under Spanish labor regulations and collective bargaining agreements, usually, this further develops the disciplinary regime in employment).

No. Employment measures so that the victim can obtain help and assistance (i.e., the right to a reduction of the working day with a proportional reduction in salary or the reorganization of working time by rescheduling the hours or working flextime) is only granted to the victim, not the family members of the victim. 

Generally, an immigrant woman with a marriage-based residence permit obtained in Spain for being spouse of an EU citizen or third-country resident must provide evidence of the validity of the marriage and coexistence between the spouses in order to hold or renew the permit. In case of divorce, nullity of marriage or separation, she will have to obtain a new type of permit by complying with the relevant requirements for a self-petition application.

An exception to the above would apply if she has resided in Spain for five years as a legal resident, in which case she may be granted permanent resident status by applying without the assistance of the spouse. As a result, immigrant victims of domestic violence may feel compelled to remain in an abusive relationship for such time.

However, there are mechanisms intended to protect woman from losing their immigration status upon domestic violence. However, for this mechanism to activate, it is required for a woman to make a criminal impeachment and request protection against the abusive spouse. With this, she can file a petition for a domestic or gender-based violence work and residence permit.

If the victim does not hold regular status in Spain, she can also apply for domestic or gender-based violence residence and work authorizations.

The remedies for domestic violence cannot be obtained unless a criminal impeachment is requested against the abusive spouse. The remedies derived from the impeachment are provisional; to obtain the relevant permit, a guilty hearing against the abusive spouse will be required.

Additionally, there is a type of residence permit for immigrants who cooperate with law enforcement for national benefit purposes. This is not specific for domestic violence cases, but may also be applicable. 

Immigrant women have access to asylum for domestic violence reasons. Spain offers international protection to those with a well-founded fear of being persecuted in their country for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinions, belonging to a particular social group, gender or sexual orientation.

There is no military protective order per se. However, if the abuser is in the military, the following preventive or definite measures can be taken:

• If the abuser is forbidden to use weapons in a ruling or as a precautionary measure: The abuser will be removed of all his/her professional weapons. Moreover, the military will need to inform the court if the employee has personal weapons in order for these to be removed. He/she would also not be allowed to participate in operations or trainings that require the use of weapons.
• If the victim is in the military and the abuser has a restraining order: She can request a change of destination, voluntary leave (without minimum seniority) or paid leave to go to social services or access medical services.
• Professional impact on the attacker: If the abuser is sentenced to a jail sentence of over a year, an internal investigation will be initiated that could lead to extraordinary sanctions. If the military has a labor relationship, his/her employment contract could be terminated.

Even in cases where there is no final ruling, the Ministry of Defense can decide to suspend their military service and prevent him/her from being promoted. If the ruling forbids the abuser from possessing weapons, he/she can be expelled from the military.

Yes. Articles 65 and 66 of the Comprehensive Protection Against Gender-Based Violence Law establish a judge's right to suspend custody and visitation of children in domestic violence cases. If the judge does not suspend those rights, he/she should establish specific rules as to how the custody and the visitation of children should be carried out, adopting measures to guarantee the children's and the woman's safety, as well as a proper follow-up regarding the evolution of their recovery.

Yes, when determining the custody, a judge should consider the testimonies of the other spouse and the children. Particularly, the right of the children to be heard is established in Article 92 of the Civil Code and Article 9 of the Minor Protection Law.

No.

Yes. The victim may seek this precautionary measure or a court may impose it.