Nearly half of young adults in Spain say they endured psychological violence as children or teenagers, according to a new government-backed survey that exposes what officials called a “structural problem” of abuse and neglect across the country.
The study found that 48% of respondents reported suffering psychological harm — including intimidation, control, and contempt — while 40.5% experienced physical violence and one in three were victims of sexual violence. The findings, drawn from interviews with 9,037 people (2,643 male and 6,394 female respondents) aged 18 to 30, mark the most comprehensive survey ever conducted in Spain on violence during childhood and adolescence.
Released this month by the Spanish Ministry of Youth and Children and conducted by Madrid-based researcher Sigma Dos, the report underscores the widespread nature of abuse and calls for urgent policy reforms.
Youth and Children Minister Sira Rego described the figures as “terrible,” saying violence against minors “cannot remain private but has to become a government matter because we have an obligation to protect our children and adolescents.”
Rego pledged to ensure the survey is repeated every two years to see if policies to stop the issue are working.
The survey complements other research into the wider societal issue in Spain, such as “The child sexual abuse crisis of the Church in Spain: case study on the genesis, methodology and contents of the report Para dar luz (To Give Light)" by the Spanish Episcopal Conference (2023) by journalist Yago de la Cierva.
This report said that child abuse had been obscured for years in Spain and only recently better understood. Official data quoted showed 6,083 minors suffering physical or psychological abuse at home in 2017 with 4,542 reporting sexual abuse. Abuse victims were more female than male, and cases increased from the age of 13 upwards.
“Just three years later, the Unified Registry of Child Abuse (RUMI) recorded 21,521 notifications, an increase of 37.18% compared to the previous year,” stated the report.
“The figures describe a growing phenomenon. A report on the evolution of violence in the period 2009–2016 showed that, over those eight years, the average increase in violence was 299% and that all types of violence rose.”
The report added that the “picture painted by the statistics is bleak” because an estimated less than 15% of violence against children during childhood or adolescence is actually reported.
Another 2023 report, ordered by Spain’s Congress and reported by the BBC at the time, noted 200,000 children suffered sexual abuse from Catholic clergy in Spain.
The independent commission’s 700-page report was based on responses from 800,000 members of the public. It concluded that out of Spain’s roughly 39 million residents, more than 200,000 people — or 0.6% of the adult population — had been sexually abused as children by members of the clergy.
“That percentage rose to 1.13%, more than 400,000 people, when including alleged abuse by lay people in institutions overseen by the Church,” added the BBC report.
