For the past year, the cities of Barcelona and Hospitalet de Llobregat have had a dedicated on-call forensic service exclusively for victims of sexual violence. The professionals working in this unique service, the only one of its kind in Spain, have carried out 661 interventions during this first year. This means they have attended to an average of two victims per day. Of all the interventions they have performed since February 1, 2025, 46 have involved victims of multiple assaults. The annual tally of 611 interventions represents a 3.9% increase compared to the forensic medical examinations for sexual violence carried out during the previous year, before this specific 24-hour on-call service existed. Until then, examinations of victims of sexual violence were handled by an on-call service that also dealt with other serious incidents. The Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences of Catalonia (IMLCFC), which reports to the Department of Justice, is headquartered in the City of Justice, on the border between Barcelona and Hospitalet. This Sunday, coinciding with its first anniversary, it released data on its on-call service for sexual violence cases. In fact, the upward trend in cases of this crime "has been steadily increasing for years," with the sole exception of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, explained IMLCFC Director Eneko Barberia. Younger women and more men are among the victims.

The majority of victims seen by the forensic experts on this specialized duty are young women under 30. Specifically, the average age is 28.2 years. Although the number of men seen is very small compared to women (representing one in seven victims), the forensic experts are seeing an increasing number of them. Last year, men made up 13.9% of the victims seen, compared to 11.9% the previous year. In total, last year the forensic experts saw 573 women and 88 men. The data collected during 2025 also confirms another trend that the forensic experts had already noticed in previous years. Sexual assaults are increasingly less concentrated in the summer months, as was previously the case, and there are more cases at other times of the year. However, there are still more assaults on weekends, highlighting the correlation between nightlife, alcohol consumption, and sexual violence.

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The water is filtered so many times that it ends up pure, so purified that it's no longer hydrating and isn't even good for drinking. The water that reaches the laboratories of the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences of Catalonia (IMLCFC), located in a basement of the City of Justice, is already cleaner than that of any home. Even so, it passes through two more filters before reaching the multimillion-dollar machine that analyzes the urine, blood, mucus, and liquid samples and tells you what substances are present. Cocaine, alcohol, caffeine, amphetamines. A chemist analyzes all the results, which in a few months will be key to solving a homicide, a sexual assault, or, simply, an accidental death. The environment is that of a laboratory: sterile and clean, but with many computers, test tubes, and microscopes. There are even showers in the middle of the offices to prevent contamination of the space.

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Ana Hospital had always imagined dedicating herself to another specialty. In fact, while studying medicine, she worked as a primary care physician in a village, and also in a pediatrician's office. It was in the latter that she met Dr. Narcís Bardalet, who held dual positions as a pediatrician and forensic pathologist. Some days, after the consultation, she would accompany him to body removals. She enjoyed that job more than she imagined, and today she is a forensic doctor at the Institute of Forensic Medicine of Catalonia, a dentist, and a professor at the International University of Catalonia.

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