The Ministry of Justice and Democratic Quality of the Generalitat has strengthened the use of immersive virtual reality (IVR) in Catalan prisons as an innovative tool to reinforce the rehabilitation of those convicted of gender-based violence, through the use of specific glasses to apply this technique.
With this system, inmates can experience scenes of violence from the victim's perspective, an experience that "promotes the improvement of empathy, accountability, and awareness of the consequences of violent behavior," as detailed by the department in a statement this Tuesday.
The IVR is integrated into the specialized treatment programs that the penitentiary system of Catalunya has been developing for more than three decades to address gender-based violence, and it is applied in all ordinary regime penitentiary centers, except for Brians 1, which acts as a reference center for preventive inmates.
The design of the project aims for convicted individuals to learn to detect and transform the psychological, emotional, and social factors that influence their criminal behavior, incorporating virtual reality as support for existing therapeutic interventions.
Operation of the sessions with virtual reality
To participate in the sessions, virtual reality glasses and two controllers are used that replicate the user's body movements in the digital environment. In this way, the inmate can see, hear, and feel, for a few moments, as if they were a victim of gender-based violence.
The program includes different virtual scenarios, among which the so-called "embodiment" stands out, allowing the experience of the situation from the victim's body. This technique has been the subject of various studies and scientific publications that support its usefulness in the field of intervention with aggressors.
Additionally, other scenes are incorporated, such as observing a couple's argument in a public place or a simulated conversation between the aggressor and the victim, in which the participating person alternates between both points of view to deepen the understanding of the harm caused.
More inmates in rehabilitation programs
During 2025, a total of 1,344 inmates entered Catalan prisons for crimes related to gender violence, of which 596, 44%, participated in specific rehabilitation programs for male violence, which represents an increase of 38% compared to the previous year.
The participation rate in these programs has risen from 34.9% in 2024 to 44.3% in 2025, a growth that "consolidates the growing" trend in access to specialized intervention and treatment resources for this type of crime.
Immersive virtual reality is conceived as a tool integrated into rehabilitation programs and not as a substitute for the other therapeutic components, which continue to be the basis of the work with inmates.
Impact on recidivism and European leadership
The recidivism rate for gender violence crimes stands at 17.7%, three points below the general recidivism rate, which reaches 21.1%, according to the latest penitentiary recidivism search published in 2023 by the Centre d'Estudis Jurídics i Formació Especialitzada (CEJFE).
Catalonia has established itself as one of the European penitentiary administrations with the most experience in the application of immersive virtual reality for the rehabilitation of individuals convicted of male violence, integrating this technology into a long-term intervention strategy.