VioGén
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VioGén is a system used by the Spanish criminal justice system to determine the likelihood of a victim of domestic violence being attacked by the same offender.[1]
History
The system was launched in 2007, and created by the Spanish Ministry of the Interior.[2] The full name of the system is “Integral Monitoring System in Cases of Gender Violence" (Spanish: Sistema de Seguimiento Integral en Casos de Violencia de Género).[2]
In 2025, the ministry designed a new version of the system, called VioGén2.[3]
Functionality
The system is a web application designed to assist authorities to coordinate their actions to protect women and children from gender-related violence.[2] The system uses a standardised set of 35 questions.[2][1] The questions range from the intensity of the abuse, the aggressor's access to weapons, his mental health and whether the woman has left, or is considering leaving the relationship.[1] The threat is then categorised as "negligible", "low", "medium", "high" or "extreme".[1]
Implementation
As of October 2024, many municipalities are not yet integrated into the system, including 142 municipalities of 179 in the Community of Madrid and 42 of the 88 municipalities in the Canary Islands.[4][5]
Criticism
The system has been criticised by the Ethics Foundation for its questions being too rigid.[6]
References
- ^ a b c d Pressly, Linda; Escribano, Esperanza (19 April 2025). "Police algorithm said Lina was at 'medium' risk. Then she was killed". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2025-04-20. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
- ^ a b c d Heikkilä, Melissa (2022-03-16). "AI: Decoded: Spain's flawed domestic abuse algorithm — Ban debate heats up — Holding the police accountable". Politico EU. Archived from the original on 2022-03-16. Retrieved 2025-04-21.
- ^ Arenales, María García (2025-01-15). "Interior diseña un nuevo modelo de respuesta policial a la violencia de género para reducir el riesgo de error: "Es el momento de dar un salto adelante"" [Interior designs a new model of police response to gender violence to reduce the risk of error: "It's time to take a leap forward"]. infobae. Archived from the original on 2025-01-15. Retrieved 2025-04-21.
- ^ "Sistema Viogén en las Islas Canarias: se encuentran adheridos 46 de los 88 municipios" [Viogén System in the Canary Islands: 46 of the 88 municipalities adhering]. Artículo 14. 2024-10-03. Archived from the original on 2024-11-04. Retrieved 2025-04-21.
- ^ Fernández, Dámaris (2024-09-30). "Sistema Viogén: 142 municipios de la Comunidad de Madrid aun no están adheridos" [Viogén System: 142 municipalities in the Community of Madrid are not yet adhering]. Artículo 14. Archived from the original on 2024-09-26. Retrieved 2025-04-21.
- ^ "VioGén es un algoritmo que predice el riesgo de las víctimas de violencia de género y se ha auditado de forma independiente por primera vez: ¿qué significa?" [VioGén is an algorithm that predicts the risk of victims of gender violence and has been independently audited for the first time: what does it mean?]. Maldita.es. 2022-05-10. Archived from the original on 2022-03-10. Retrieved 2025-04-21.