Number of young people who view gender-based violence as an ideological invention doubles

Denialism of gender-based violence is a political stance that only the leaders of hard-right party Vox dare to defend aloud in Spain. However is has had its influence on young people; the young Spanish population widely reduces domestic abuse to family violence between equals.

A small but increasingly significant number of girls think this way, but in the case of boys, denialism has already reached unprecedented proportions. The number of Spanish 15-34 year-olds who believe that gender-based violence and related policies to prevent, combat and repair it are nothing more than an ideological invention has doubled in the last four years. This is one of the most striking points from the Youth in Spain 2024 study, an X-ray of the country's new generation carried out every four years by the youth Institute Injuve, recently released and presented by the minister for youth, Sira Rego.

Since 2020, Injuve's previous report, both girls and boys who believe that gender violence does not exist have doubled. But there's a notable split between the sexes: in the case of girls only one in eight (13%) and in the case of boys twice as many, 23%, argue that gender-based violence does not exist. Many ignore the fact that men in Spain kill their partners or ex-partners between seven and ten times more often than women do. Structural misogyny causes tens of thousands of assaults, claiming the lives of between 50 and 70 Spanish women every year.

The downward trend is confirmed when young people are asked whether they think that gender-based violence is one of the most important social problems in the country. Although two out of three (65%) still say so overall (without separating by sex), this stance has changed considerably since 2020, when 82% thought that gender-based violence was one of the most pressing issues in Spain.

The consequences of the gap in young people's commitment to the fight against gender violence is seen in the first wave of domestic violence of the summer. At least three women and a baby were murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in a 48-hour period. Within the same time frame, two other bodies were discovered - femicides committed before the official start of summer.

If theories are confirmed that these crimes were rooted in sexism, in June alone there will have been seven femicides - a third of all deaths of this type registered this year. So far in 2025, 20 women and three of their young children have lost their lives at the hands of their husbands, boyfriends or ex-partners.

The rise of denialism among the young Spanish population is unfolding in parallel with a decline in their identification with feminism and the struggle for equality between men and women. In the same vein, there is a clear ideological right-wing shift among 15-34 year-olds, according to Injuve's survey. The decline in support for these ideas and policies is again registered among both men and women, but it is much more pronounced in the case of men, who are mostly located in the political centre-right, while women are leaning left.

Seven out of ten girls continue to declare themselves feminists and 76% defend the need for measures and laws that extend real equality between the sexes. In just four years, men's support for both policies has plummeted by between 25% and 30%. Not even half as many boys identify with feminist ideas (41%) or equality policies (49%). These general approaches can also be seen in the small print. Only 55% of young men support the current abortion law (16 percentage points less than Spanish women of the same age) and not even half of them support measures to ensure a balance of men and women in public office, a position supported by 70% of their female peers (22 points more).

The same drop in the younger generation's sensitivity to gender equality policies is detected when they are asked about their empathy with measures and legal reforms to ensure that LGBT+ groups have equal rights. Only 41% of young men support the fight for LGBT+ rights, 50% fewer than Spanish women aged 15-34 (63% of whom support the fight for LGBT+ equality).