A NEW initiative dedicated to confronting domestic abuse and gender violence has been launched in memory of a British mother who was stabbed to death by her ex-partner on the Costa del Sol.
Victoria Hart, 33, was killed at her home in Alhaurin el Grande in front of her young children at the beginning of this year.
Her ex-husband, Juan Antonio Rueda, who was arrested for her murder after handing himself into police and saying that he had done something ‘very bad’, had a restraining order which intended to stop him from approaching the family home where Hart lived.
Hart was even listed on the VioGen monitoring system, created in 2004 as part of an attempt to counter gender violence.
Despite these active judicial protection measures, her risk level had been classified as ‘low’.
Friends claim that the couple had been separated for months but that the suspect had allegedly been harassing her, sending her a barrage of messages while she was out with friends before turning up at her house.
The murder of Hart shone a light on the realities of domestic abuse and gender violence in Spain and was identified by Kara Caradas, the founder of charity Asociacion Hadas Caradas, when she was thinking about new initiatives.
“Kara has a passion for identifying topics where services may be limited or people may need support in finding the right assistance,” her colleague Jack Bourke told The Olive Press.
With Hart’s case in mind, Caradas and her charity have launched The Hart Project, an initiative that aims to raise awareness for domestic abuse while expanding support for survivors.
“We have set up a dedicated number that people can call should they need assistance, information or guidance themselves, or if a friend or family member has identified that somebody may need help and needs guidance on how to approach the topic,” said Bourke.
“Our aim is to provide all the information and support we can and direct people to the correct organisations if needed (such as refuges).”
Beyond supporting victims, the project hopes to ‘educate people in spotting the signs that somebody may be in a situation that involves domestic violence’.
It aims to introduce talks to schools to teach students about the topic, show them how to help those they believe may be affected and offer assistance should any of them find themselves in a situation of this nature within their own homes.
Hart herself had three young children who were present when she was killed on 24 January.
Her eldest child, an 11-year-old boy, ran outside to the garden of their home on Calle Tomillo in the La Paca urbanisation to cry for assistance after his mum was attacked, reportedly calling his grandmother to say: “Dad has killed mum.”.
Screams from the property were heard at around 11.40am and when a resident reportedly entered the home they found Hart lying on the floor in a pool of blood with a knife nearby.
While emergency services rushed to the scene, they were unable to save Hart.
The passing of this mother of three ‘struck the Costa del Sol deeply’.
Approximately 250 people gathered on Alhaurin el Grande’s town hall steps to release 100 white balloons into the sky and acknowledge Hart who was much loved in the community in the days after her death.
Among those in attendance were her son and two twin daughters, aged seven, her mother, sister, friends, family members and local councillors.
Pupils from the school of the children also emerged to participate in the minute of silence.
“Her passing highlighted that domestic abuse is real and that ‘nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors’,” according to Bourke.
“We feel it is therefore very important to keep the topic in the minds of people and continue the conversations.”
READ MORE: Domestic violence has skyrocketed in Mallorca, growing 25% in the last year
The Asociacion Hadas Caradas ‘has always been community focused, pinpointing areas which need the most assistance or areas of limited public services’.
It has previously helped to provide food parcels for the homeless or those without government funding during the global pandemic and given Christmas gifts to children in orphanages who would otherwise go without.
Now it is turning to domestic violence as it hopes to ensure that all victims ‘have a safe space to communicate and ask for help when they need it most’.
Those affected by domestic abuse or know somebody who is, can contact the organisation’s dedicated one to one support number for support or guidance on 623630373.
Anyone looking to support The Hart Project, whether it be through giving talks in schools or helping victims, can contact jack@hadascaradas.org for more information.
Click here to read more Costa Del Sol News from The Olive Press.
