The Complaint Process and Judicial Instance

The Complaint as a Vital Antecedent and Double-Edged Weapon

The decision to file a complaint is the most critical moment in the chronology of violence: it is necessary to activate the state protection machinery, but it is also statistically the moment of greatest physical danger for the victim. A poorly written or incomplete report is the prelude to impunity.

It is not enough to narrate the latest incident; the professional must instruct the victim to provide a thorough and detailed chronology of the historical abuse (patterns of control, previous threats, economic violence), witnesses, digital evidence and medical records.

The real value of the report lies in the historical record it generates; if the violence escalates or the victim disappears, that legal record is the only tool that allows authorities to quickly link the suspect.

However, the judicial system often fails to receive the complaint, minimizing the risk if there are no serious visible injuries, classifying attempted femicide as simple "personal injuries".

It is essential that a police risk assessment and the adoption of immediate precautionary measures be explicitly requested in the act of filing the complaint, transforming the bureaucratic process into an active security shield.

The Process in the Family and Criminal Courts

The judicial approach to domestic violence is usually bifurcated in two ways that operate with different logics: criminal and family.

The criminal track seeks the punishment of the crime (prison, criminal record), while the family court regulates the civil consequences of the rupture, such as divorce, alimony and the regime of communication with the children. The great systemic risk lies in the lack of communication between the two jurisdictions.

It can happen that a criminal judge issues a restraining order due to the aggressor's dangerousness, while a family judge, ignoring this evaluation or minimizing it under the "parental alienation syndrome", grants a broad visitation regime.

This allows the aggressor to continue the abuse of the mother through the children (vicarious violence) or to have physical access to her during exchanges.

Expert intervention requires advocating for the connection of the cases, ensuring that family decisions are always subordinate to the security ruled in the criminal court.

In addition, it is vital to understand that "legal truth" (what can be proven) often differs from experiential truth; psychological terror and coercive control are difficult to prove wi