The Courts for Violence Against Women have the power to inquire on the following crimes: To rule on misdemeanor cases when the victim is one of the before mentioned.
Staff associated with this Court are given special training in relation to gender violence due to the trauma suffered by victims, and the existence of emotional links with the offender.
The creation of this court, founded and strongly supported by Women's institutions, has generated quite a range of criticism within Spanish society.
A non-binding legal report by the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), considered that the law on which the court is based violated the principle of equality as established in the Constitution.
[4][5] The law was founded and has extensive support of feminist organizations and specialised jurists, that believe it to be a necessary step in their goal of "eradicating" gender violence against women in Spain, however official figures from the National Institute of Statistics[6] show that deaths have steadily increased since the start of the campaign.