Spaniards protest male violence after four women are killed 27/02/2008 00:00

Spaniards around the country staged silent rallies Wednesday to protest male violence against women after four women were killed by their husbands or partners.

27 February 2008

MADRID - Spaniards around the country staged silent rallies Wednesday to protest male violence against women after four women were killed by their husbands or partners.

It was the largest number of women killed within 24 hours in Spanish incidents of domestic violence.

The women, whose ages ranged from 22 to 55, were killed Tuesday in Madrid, Valladolid, in the eastern Valencia region and near Cadiz in the south.

Two of the women were stabbed and two shot dead. Three of the attacks were in public places. Three of the victims were Spanish and one a Bolivian.

Three of the killers were arrested, while one committed suicide.

The four deaths brought the death toll of domestic violence to 17 women so far this year, four more than at the corresponding time in 2007.

Seventy-one women were killed during all of 2007.

More than 80,000 women living in Spain are currently under protection from their husbands or partners. The problem of domestic violence has persisted despite measures against it.

[Copyright dpa 2008]