La ruptura de la pareja y su influencia en la dinámica relacional en casos de feminicidio

The separation of a couple is a situation of risk for the appearance of violent behaviour. In Spain, one out of every three femicides occurs in a context of separation. This research analyses the breakdown of the relationship and the woman's manifestation of separation, comparing these variables in non-fatal intimate partner violence cases (VdG; n = 513) and femicide (n = 171). Subsequently, cases of femicide were in-depth studied, classifying them as preceded (FPS; n = 88) and not preceded by separation (FNPS; n = 81), focusing on those cases in which there were reportable violent behaviors. The findings showed that the relationship breakdown was associated with cases in which there were reportable violent behaviours. In addition, the woman's manifestation of separation was more common in non-lethal violent cases, although whether eliminating femicides without reportable violent behaviors, the situation of rupture was associated with femicides. Regarding the FPS authors’ profile, they are younger than FNPS authors, have use of drugs but do not have disabilities, showed an insecure attachment style, and have criminal records. Regarding the relational dynamics, the FPS cases show a shorter relationship time, the victims had protection measures, and these cases registered violence, threats, control behaviours, and harassment to a greater extent than the FNPS. However, when analysing those femicides in which there was not reportable violent behaviours, the findings showed that the perpetrator's disability, the length of the relationship and the existence of harassing behaviours remained to be statistically significant. These findings show that associations that have been identified in previous research related to the couple breakup could be explained by the presence of violent behaviors rather than the fact associated with the separation itself.