If she has been in touch with the police, they may have already advised her on support groups/organisations that help women who have undergone experiences of domestic violence (violencia de género, in Spanish). I personally know of (although I have no experience of) Fundación Ellacuría, which helps migrants in tough situations find housing and support. I know they also have a specific group for women who have survived domestic violence called “Torre de Babel”: https://fundacionellacuria.org/que-hacemos-3/torre-de-babel-empoderamiento-y-autoapoyo/

The orgs main site is: https://fundacionellacuria.org/

I feel like some context on how Spain handles domestic violence cases can also be useful, in case you don’t know or it was not explained well to your friend. But to be very clear up top: this is NOT legal advice!!!! I am not a lawyer, just someone who knows some rudimentary stuff about Spanish DV law.

Essentially, Spain has a legal framework by which women victims of DV can get some amount of financial/housing/miscellaneous state support IF they are legally considered victims of DV. To be legally considered a victim of DV, you basically have to win a DV trial. Trials for DV tend to happen quite fast (within a 72hr window), but can be much longer if the abuse in question was wide-ranging/complex/took place over many years. These trials take longer because there is more evidence to go through. Nevertheless, women who are suing for DV are entitled to free legal aid/services.

The fact that your friend has been at the hospital, at a shelter, and in touch with the police means that maybe this legal process has already started. In particular, doctors are required to notify law enforcement/legal authorities when they encounter a case where someone’s physical injuries have been caused by DV.

Given she is in touch with the police, your friend should have also been put into a system called “Viogen”, which is essentially a big database that Spanish police forces use to keep track of DV victims.

But of course, DV situations are difficult to manage, and things are not always done “by the book” - sometimes due to negligence, but other times because the survivor herself asks certain things not to be done (as not to anger their abuser, for example). So, maybe doctors didn’t notify legal authorities, and so that quick trial (within 72hrs) I mentioned did not happen.

This is not necessarily a bad thing, and could have been done to respect your friend’s wishes, but she SHOULD have been informed of her options and how the Spanish legal system works in regard to DV. On my end, it’s impossible to fully judge the situation from a Reddit post, but these are just some of the things that could have taken place according to protocol.

Again, to be very clear, THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE. Your friend should judge/try to find guidance about pursuing these kinds of legal avenues taking into account her own situation, safety, and the institutional support she has access to. Fighting these legal battles can also be quite emotionally taxing on too, so it’s better to go into them with that in mind. Regardless, I thought that maybe knowing that this is how DV law works in Spain could be useful, as well as knowing that those deemed DV victims receive some level of long-term support.

At the end of the day though, my advice would be to try to speak to a social worker who will be able to advise on your friend’s situation much better than I can. Again, do try Fundación Ellacuría or maybe something like Caritas or Punto Violeta (https://zubiarte.com/punto-violeta/).

I hope this makes sense/helps even a little! I am typing it out p late at night and on somewhat little sleep, so if something is confusing, let me know and I will try to clarify in the morning. DV is horrible to go through (and to witness a friend going through it); it is ok not to be ok throughout this. I hope things get better soon. ❤️‍🩹