Spain will formally pardon 53 women who were imprisoned as adolescents under the Franco dictatorship for being “fallen or in danger of falling,” part of thousands detained by the Board for the Protection of Women.
The board, run by religious orders and overseen by Carmen Polo, wife of dictator Francisco Franco, targeted girls for behaviours deemed immoral by the Catholic Church, including being lesbian, writing about sexuality, or simply being “too fond of the street.”
Originally established in 1902 to combat sex work, its role expanded after the Spanish Civil War, and it was not dissolved until 1985, a decade after Franco’s death.
In a ceremony next week, the Spanish government will pardon the 53 surviving women, nullifying any punishments they endured and recognising them as victims of Francoist repression.
The Ministry of Democratic Memory stated the punishments were the result of “repression and violence … for political, ideological reasons or because of their gender.”
The ministry has already received 1,600 testimonies from women who passed through these institutions. Among them, Eva García de la Torre, imprisoned for her sexuality and later Galicia’s first female mayor, was officially recognised as a victim before her death in 2022.
Historians note the board operated with broad social support, with families and neighbours complicit in identifying girls deemed deviant, reflecting societal control over women’s behaviour.
While religious orders previously offered an apology, victims’ representatives reject the pardon, demanding truth, justice and reparations rather than symbolic recognition.
