The Minister of Justice, Rita Alarcão Júdice, defended, in an interview with Lusa, that the aggravation of sentences and the prohibition of the provisional suspension of proceedings for crimes of domestic violence are not effective measures in combating this crime. The minister believes that combating violence can and should be done in schools through the Citizenship subject, “in a context that is not ideological, but based on values”.
Rita Alarcão Júdice argued that, in combating crimes that occur in the context of it is more important ensure faster action, from the moment there is a complaint until the end of the process.
The Minister of Justice sees “the protection of the victim and a trial much closer, or as close as possible to the event, as more useful than the increase in sentences in and of itself.”
“I don’t think that just because a penalty is more serious means a person will stop engaging in certain behavior,” he added, pointing to the irrationality that characterizes these violent behaviors.
For the person responsible for the Justice department, it is more important “that there is efficiency in the criminal investigation, implementation in the process and rapid action by the entities involved”, so that people realize that crime doesn’t pay.
Increasing penalties for crimes of domestic violence “is not even a prerogative of the Government, it will always be a prerogative of Parliament, which can do so”. “And I won’t object,” added Rita Alarcão Júdice.
Minister is not in favor of bans
Regarding a possible prohibition on the provisional suspension of processes related to domestic violence, the Minister of Justice explained that she is not in favor of prohibitions, seeing the obligation to attend a program for domestic violence offenders in cases where provisional suspension of the process is applied.
“I see this as more positive, because we don’t know what’s going on and if there is no evidence, even if the process is not suspended, we won’t be able to convict anyone. There is an acquittal. And if we are going to put a burden on the victim to prove it, it could be counterproductive”, admitted the person responsible for the Justice department.
Rita Alarcão Júdice considered the proposal presented by the Government to be more effective, which is currently being analyzed by the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees, on the use of victims’ initial statements at the trial stage.
The purpose of this change is avoid revictimizationsince, in this way, victims no longer need to speak at trial, repeating what they said in the first statement, which is made, in most cases, at the time of the complaint.
“In fact, what we have seen is: at the moment when the victim, due to a circumstance – or has the courage to file a complaint, or is confronted because they go to the hospital, seek help and have this support that allows them to follow up with the filing of a complaint -, at that moment, the victim is more willing to speak”, explained the person responsible for the Justice department.
Fighting violence starts in schools
The Minister of Justice also defended that combating violence can and should be done in schools through “in a context not of ideology, but of values”.
“The review of the citizenship chair that was carried out is also for this purpose. We really want the citizenship chair to be used to talk about rights, freedoms and guarantees, talk about the Constitution, talk about respect for others”, said Rita Alarcão Júdice, regarding the fight against domestic violence and dating violence.
Both dating violence and youth crime are, for the person responsible for Justice, “very complex situations”, which “profoundly shock” and which are often promoted by exposure to aggressive digital content, including sexual violence.
And this content “tends to create a normalization of certain standards that are often incorporated into your life in the wrong way”, he also said, adding that it is essential to talk about the topic and even on social media, “which is where, deep down, there is this narrative and narratives that nowadays also appear of exacerbated machismo”.
