The 112 service in the Canary Islands received 9,693 calls for gender violence between January and June, a 13% increase compared to 2025. Of these, 59% were emergencies, with 1,117 activations of the DEMA and 219 women accommodated with their children.
The 112 helpline for Women Victims of Gender Violence, managed by the Canary Islands Institute for Equality (ICI), recorded 9,693 alerts in the first half of 2026, representing a 13% increase compared to the same period the previous year, when 8,568 calls were logged.
Of these nearly ten thousand alerts, 59% (5,717) were classified as emergencies, meaning situations where the woman was in imminent danger. In these cases, the Emergency Devices for Assaulted Women (DEMA) were activated on 1,117 occasions, and 219 women along with their 92 daughters and sons were urgently accommodated to protect themselves from their aggressors.
Additionally, 5,516 police resources and 477 healthcare resources were mobilised. The director of the ICI, Ana Padrón, stated that "gender violence is a structural problem that does not cease and in which we must get involved from all areas to corner the abusers and ensure that women feel protected."
Padrón highlighted that the Government of the Canary Islands has strengthened protection mechanisms in recent years, but acknowledged that "it is evident that we need to increase early detection in the healthcare, educational, and labour sectors and create greater public awareness to combat the growing denialism."
The most notable increase has occurred among the younger and older age groups. Calls from those under 18 years old rose by 34%, from 123 to 165. Alerts from women over 76 years old also grew by 32%, from 79 to 105. In other age brackets, there were 1,738 calls from women aged 18 to 35 (compared to 1,781 in 2025), 2,166 from those aged 36 to 55 (1,972 last year), and 599 from those aged 56 to 75 (515 in 2025).
Regarding the aggressors, 65% were the partner or ex-partner of the victim. Specifically, 4,054 assaults were committed by the current partner and 2,471 by the ex-partner. Assaults were also recorded from children (458), strangers (212), friends (113), parents (134), and siblings (169).
In terms of the type of violence, nearly 5% of the alerts corresponded to sexual assaults, which prompted the activation of 24-hour crisis centres on 200 occasions. 41% were physical violence without sexual assault, and another 41% were non-physical violence. The majority of calls (42%) were made by the victim themselves, followed by accidental alerting (22%), institutions (18%), and family members (5%).
In June alone, 1,711 calls were received, of which 60 women acknowledged having some form of disability. The ICI funds this specialised 112 service, which operates 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and maintains a network of resources throughout the archipelago in collaboration with the councils. Last year, five new 24-hour crisis centres were added to assist victims of sexual violence.
For women needing help, the ICI reminds that there is a network of specialised public services for social assistance to victims of gender violence available on all the islands. Anyone can call 112 in an emergency situation.
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