“Victims were forced to remain silent”

Berta Pinillos and Ana Soteras | Madrid – March 7, 2024

Maria Castellano was also the first professor of medicine in Spain. Leader in research on violence against women When it was not a specific crime, and those years highlight the difficulty victims have in coming forward with their stories How they were discouraged from reporting: “He was forced to remain silent.”

Castellano, 76 years old and who holds chair number 19 at the Royal Academy of Medicine of Spain, recalls in an interview within the framework of the EFE. International Women’s Day, Why she decided to study legal medicine in the years when it was not common for a woman to do so and how during her career Contributed to identifying victims of gender violence And investigate complaints.

He is thrilled by the fact Legal medicine is a “wonderful” specialty and is unknown to many because in its time it was associated with corpses, autopsies and the explanation of crimes but it is “all the medicine that can be of use in the courts to clarify any kind of issue.”

“It is so diverse and complete that it fulfills all human expectations of research, knowledge, etc.” Solution to daily life problemsThat highlights Castellano, who says she has felt a lot of support in a profession predominantly dominated by men, though she admits there have been specific moments in which that hasn’t been the case.

María Castellano, first professor of medicine in Spain

Investigation into attacks on women This is one of the aspects Castellano knows very well about his partners. At that time, in the 70’s and 80’s, gender violence was not talked about “at all”, it was not differentiated as something specific.

A doctor who attended an injured person was bound to report it to the court It was investigated as a crime of injuries And they were punished depending on their severity.

At the end of the 80s, Castellano and a fellow forensic expert from Zaragoza had already drawn attention to the number of complaints that existed from women towards their partners, for this reason, She warned the courts that she was keen to interview and trace these womenTo know the damage but also analyze the threat of the attacker.

“We also began to see that the psychological damage was as significant as the physical damage,” says the professor.

Until then, There was an unfavorable environment for the victim woman regarding her complaint. Because they were told phrases like “It’s just that you provoke him” or “It’s just that you have to know how to handle it”, according to the professor and even the police and civil guard themselves. had also discouraged him from doing so.

“She certainly didn’t get much support,” recalls Castellano, who emphasizes that the woman “felt driven to remain silent,” which is why many later He denied this and argued that the attack was accidental.To avoid conflict with family and out of fear.

Those who took this step had “great patience”, endured “great suffering” and made “a great sacrifice”. Even for doctors they had to see obvious situations of violence So that they can report to the court.

importance of equality education

Castellano not only interviewed the women, but also emphasized the importance of Know the attacker to know the degree of threat And he did this because he visited towns to investigate complaints.

“To the extent that we knew the previous form of violence and how to correct it, a new form emerged that surprised us. Since we have known him, since the late 80s and early 90s, we have provided information to legislators, because legal medicine has to contribute to improving laws. Such laws were made after 2003 and 2004.Assures the expert.

Today, he continues, The pattern of violence against women is the sameHowever it highlights that in the case of the pastor, as we now know, it is a new form of revenge against the woman by harming the children.

Castellano insists Importance of equality education from childhood As one of the “fundamental” tools to end gender violence and is also emphasized on adolescence and youth, where “we continue to see violence, in addition, now the use of social networks to intimidate others is done.”

For all this, Castellano does not understand those who deny gendered violence: “They are incomprehensible from a legal point of view, from a social point of view and from a moral point of view,” he insists.

With 8M right around the corner, he’s very clear about who his references are: grandma and mom He, without reading or writing anything, He did everything possible so that his daughters could study, Also founder of institutions for the learning of girls; And he doesn’t forget Margarita Salas and Marie Curie. And he emphasizes that women doctors have contributed to the humanization of medicine because “they have a sensitivity to many problems that men may not understand.”

castilian Proudly displays the First Class Cross of San Raimundo de Peñafort Thanks to her collaboration with the Administration of Justice in 1983 and the Police Merit Medal with White Badge in 1992, thanks to being the first woman to train the Spanish Judicial Police on how to act at a crime scene with genetic marker techniques . Molecular, Introduction to DNA.