Warning: This article contains descriptions of violence that may be disturbing to some readers.
“Suddenly, while she was watching television, he attacked her using two large knives,” reads the vivid and disturbing account of a recent murder in Madrid. “One was serrated and the other was a ham knife. He inflicted 67 stab wounds, many in the heart and lungs, and others on her leg, neck and stomach. He then washed the body with hydrogen peroxide and alcohol, carried it into the bedroom, and called the police. The couple had a son and two daughters. He was known in the neighborhood for psychological abuse and compulsive jealousy. ‘They were always together,’ reported a neighbor. ‘And when they weren’t, he would yell at her and demand to know where she had been.'”
This is Case 078 on Artrededor, a website and app that maps where femicides occurred. A cross marks the area surrounding where a woman was murdered by her partner and the platform provides a graphic description of the crime in text and audio. Case 078 is one of 157 women killed in the Madrid region over the past 20 years. The Artrededor app is updated annually.
“I want everyone to know where a woman was murdered in their neighborhood so they can visit the site and learn her story,” says Jana Leo, the Spanish conceptual artist who developed the app with her sister Isabel using official data. They aim to raise awareness of femicides and show that such violence can happen next door. They believe awareness is crucial to prevention.
Today, Leo is in Madrid to present the project along with a book on the topic published before the app. At the event, people react strongly. “It makes me uncomfortable,” says one woman looking at the app’s map on her phone. Another flips through the book and finds the murder of a neighbor (Case 080). “It’s an odd feeling. The police were suddenly at the door and said they had found a woman, that she’d been dead for several days.”
Despite the discomfort, discussion focuses on prevention through education. Attendees call for boys and young men in schools and universities to be taught about violence against women and how to manage anger and emotions. Some suggest workplace education programs as well.
Spain has been seen as a model within the European Union for addressing feminicide. In 2004 it was the first EU member to recognize gender-based violence as a systemic problem and to introduce laws and measures accordingly. For two decades, detailed statistics have been collected. The numbers have started to decline slightly; in 2025 men killed 48 women in Spain.
There are also 461 specialized criminal courts in Spain that deal exclusively with cases of violence against women. But problems remain. Last year some electronic bracelets with GPS tracking, intended to protect potential victims by monitoring convicted offenders, were found to be faulty and easy to hack, making reliable location tracking impossible. Earlier this year there was public outcry after it emerged that six of 10 women murdered in January and February had previously filed reports with the police.
“Sometimes we realize that we do not arrive in time and that the protective measures are sometimes not agile and effective enough,” acknowledged Spain’s Minister for Equality, Ana Redondo.
In the search for tools, artificial intelligence is also being explored. A small team at Carlos III University in Madrid is researching whether AI can detect from a woman’s voice whether she is a victim of violence. “The trauma suffered by victims can be measured in their voices because it changes the way they express themselves, sound and react,” explains Carmen Pelaez Moreno, an associate professor in the Signal Theory and Communications department.
Over recent years, 150 women, including 50 victims of male violence, have taken part in the project, which involves psychologists as well. In about 80% of cases the AI has been able to recognize victims of violence. Pelaez Moreno says the technology’s potential includes identifying early warning signs in settings like doctors’ offices or police stations. Many women find it difficult to recognize themselves as victims; the AI could act as a warning flag prompting closer attention, similar to how an abnormal blood test leads to further checks. More funding would be needed before such a tool could be deployed widely.
For app inventor Leo, remembrance and awareness are central. She considers Artrededor a way to keep the memory of victims alive and to support those affected by violence. “That’s what you do for war victims too,” she says.
This article was translated from German.
If you or somebody you know might be experiencing or have experienced any kind of gender-based violence, the website lila.help lists trustworthy helplines and NGOs that offer support in almost every country in the world.