In 1997, Ana Orantes appeared on an Andalusian television programme to recount a lifetime of abuse at the hands of her husband. Just a few days after her harrowing testimony, she was brutally murdered by her abuser. Her case prompted a widespread reckoning on gender-based violence in Spain, which led to significant legislative reforms.
Ana Orantes died at the age of 60 as an elderly woman who had suffered violence and abuse for 40 years. But today, despite the impact that her case had, older victims of gender-based violence remain marginalised, to the point of being practically invisible. They do not fit the social stereotype of a victim, which we tend to associate with a young woman, often with young children in her care.
