THE OPPORTUNITY IN CRIMES OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

The opportunity is one of the necessary elements for a person to commit a crime. Most criminological studies on the opportunity focus on crimes of theft, drug trafficking or street crime, and there are very few who study this aspect of criminology in crimes of violence committed against one's family or intimate partner. In this paper we set out to explore the characteristics of the opportunity in cases where crimes of gender and family violence are committed. For this we analyze the Supreme Court's judgments on this matter between the years 2008 to 2018. The data reveal that in this type of crime the opportunity has a series of characteristics that differentiate it from other crimes when occurring in a context where there is, or It is expected that there will be a climate of trust, affection and reciprocity. In these crimes aggressors not only take advantage of the opportunity, but often prepare it in advance. They act in a scenario that is hidden from other people's eyes and from social control, which makes prevention by the victim and society very difficult.