Victim Support Line
Faced with a situation marked by the decline of Portuguese society, coupled with the increasing difficulties victims of crimes must cope with and its impact on their families and friends, has made APAV increase its support services. Taking into consideration some isolated Portuguese regions, local services are urgently needed. In this sense, APAV, supported by its Strategic Plan 2013-2017, has managed to acquire funding from EDP Foundation in 2013 to form the Integrated Design System Response Project to Support Victims of Crime.
The project launched in October 2013 and aims to create at a national level an integrated system that permits an effective screening of identifying the risks victims of crime are exposed to. Based on this criteria, this system then adjusts in response to each individual victim’s needs, as well as including the respective victim’s family and friends. This project intends to qualify and improve the Victim Support Line | 707 200 077, and APAV provides a technological information system management and support of the telephone service for this account, with the support of the REDITUS company. We are now running our new phone schedule for the Victim Support line, from 9h to 19h on weekdays, and from 10h to 13h, on Saturday.
Secretary of State of Equality inaugurates CAP SUL
The Secretary of State of Parliamentary Affairs and Equality, Teresa Morais, visited and inaugurated the new Centre for Shelter and Protection CAP SUL - for victims of human trafficking.
The newly opened Centre for Shelter and Protection aims to give a more humanized and qualified answer to women, with or without children, victims of human trafficking and helps giving a wider geographical coverage for temporary structures of shelter to those victims. It has a capacity of 8 places.
APAV participates in a public debate on rape crimes and sexual coercion
On the 30th of June, APAV participated in a public debate held in the auditorium of the Portuguese Parliament. Organized by the Parliamentary group of the party Bloco de Esquerda, the debate discussed crimes of rape and sexual coercion, which is the object of the bill n.° 522/XII from this party.
More specifically, the issues at stake were essentially about the public nature of rape crimes and the reversal of the paradigm ‘no consent’ for the fulfillment of legal types in question. APAV expressed at the beginning of the debate a summary of the positions that the organization took regarding the two main topics discussed.
Project ABC Justice promotes activities with students
The Project ABC Justice, promoted by APAV and financially supported by the Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund (AEIF) through the Embassy of the United States of America, aims to inform young people aged between 12 and 17 years old about the functioning of the Justice system.
To this effect, an informational and educational website is being designed in a simple way that adapts to the users age and explains how the Justice system functions and the rights of victims of crime. Learning-technology resources have also been developed to conduct informational sessions for young people. With the sessions lasting 80 minutes, different issues are addressed concerning how criminal proceedings operate with a complaint, the investigation phase, the audience of the trial, the sentencing, victims' of crime rights and other factors.
Between the 8th of May and the 12th of June, 14 informative sessions were held, in which 270 students from secondary school participated in. APAV collaborated with different schools from mainland Portugal and the autonomous regions, such as: the Secondary School of Fundao with students between 12 and 15 years old, the Secondary School Jaime Moniz; in Funchal, the Secondary School of Carregal do Sal, Primary School Arrifes, in Ponta Delgado, the Secondary School D. Manuel I, in Beja, the Center of Education and Development D. Nuno Álvares Pereira, the Casa Pia of Lisbon, and the Basic and Secondary School Águas Santas in Maia.
These sessions were followed by a total of 13 study visits to the courts, the Public Security Police Stations, the National Republican Guard and the Victim Support Offices of APAV.
APAV wants to take the opportunity to thank and recognize the participation and availability of all the schools, the judicial authorities and the police, as well as the respective professionals who’ve actively been involved in the ABC Justice Project activity.
Safety & Tourism: Supporting Tourist Victims
The Touristic Safer Cities Project, sponsored by the European Forum for Urban Safety (EFUS) held a meeting in Munich on the 7th and 8th of July. The EFUS is a European forum which brings together 250 local and regional authorities from 16 different European countries. This project is in partnership with APAV as a specialist victim support organization in relation to tourist victims of crime. Its partner cities include: Alba and Rome (Italy), Munich (Germany), Saint Denis (France), Brasov (Romania) and Barcelona (Spain). The project considers security of key importance to the continued success of tourist destinations.
APAV was represented by its President who, through the communication of ‘Supporting Tourist Victims of Crime in the EU’, stressed the need for security strategies in densely populated tourist cities to include, in addition to prevention and police intervention, support to individuals and tourists that have been victims of crime. APAV has a renewed site specifically for tourists - May I help you? - with a Portuguese, English and Spanish versions.