On the eve of marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (November 25), Lagos City Council salutes the event, as well as all women and the work of associations and entities that provide support to women who are victims of any form of violence.
The greeting, unanimously approved at the last meeting of the Lacobrigense municipal executive, aims to “mark the municipality’s position against this serious violation of human rights, reiterate the commitment to adopting preventive measures and alert to a social scourge that, year after year , continues to cause suffering and fatally victimize so many women in Portugal”.
“According to preliminary data recently released by the Observatory of Murdered Women (OMA) of the Union of Alternative and Response Women (UMAR), in 2024 (from the beginning of the year until November 15) 25 murdered women were recorded in Portugal”, says the municipality in a statement.
The municipality, within the scope of the diagnosis and planning instruments of the Social Network of Lagos, has monitored the evolution of this problem in the municipality’s area, implementing projects and concrete actions to reverse this trend, starting with the preparation of the , which is reinforced with measures registered in .
This path has been followed since 2011, the date of signature of the first Cooperation Protocol with the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality, which would be renewed in 2021, with the accession to the New Generation of Cooperation Protocols for Equality and No Discrimination. In 2019, Lagos joined the National Support Network for Victims of Domestic Violence, having started, in the same year, the operation of the Lagos Victim Support Office (GAVA) promoted by TAIPA – Cooperative Organization for Integrated Development.
The latter reveals “an increase in the number of services provided by GAVA, and this demand seems to result from a consolidation of this Secretariat with the population and partner entities, to which is added, during the years of the pandemic crisis, the impact of the imposition of measures of social isolation and quarantine, in which many people were forced to stay at home with their attackers, contributing to the rise in cases, but also preventing requests for help.”
According to the same source, “historically, women have been the main victims of domestic violence, a consequence of gender inequalities rooted in the structures of contemporary societies. On the other hand, reporting these cases from men is still a taboo, and is not always reported. On the other hand, men are the main aggressors.”
Local public policies therefore focus on “preventing domestic violence and violence against women (implemented through information and awareness-raising actions) and qualifying intervention (through the training of front-line professionals – security forces and partner entities of the Social Network), not neglecting the consolidation of the victim support response”.
In this context, it is worth consulting the GAVA – Lagos Victim Support Office and remember the contacts of this service: telephone: 924 467 767 and email
Interested parties can find more information at: Eurocid – e .
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