The Portuguese Victim Support Association (APAV) has supported 4,804 mothers and fathers who were victims of violence by their children in the last five years, the majority due to domestic violence.
This organization received 9609 complaints of various crimes and forms of violence, with domestic violence being the most common form (83.1%). Crimes against property represented 2.9% of the complaints received and crimes against people, such as offenses against physical integrity, threats, coercion, defamation, insults, among others, represented 14%.
Data released this Friday reveal that around 96.8% of victims treated were attacked by one child and 3.2% by two or more, with the majority of victims being female, with around 60% aged 65 or over.
According to , the majority of child abusers are male (69.5%), with the age group between 25 and 54 being the most notable (45.5%), followed by the age group under 24 (13.9%). However, there is no information on the age of at least 31% of the attackers.
According to APAV, more than half of the victims suffered continued victimization (55.7%). “In 33.5% of the situations, it took between two and seven years until the first request for support from APAV, with 47.7% of victims not filing a complaint or report to the authorities.”
The districts where the most cases of violence occurred were Lisbon (18.7%), Porto (15.6%), Faro (15.1%), Braga (13.8%) and Setúbal (9.1%). “The violence carried out against mothers and fathers by their children is still a hidden reality and marked by feelings of guilt, fear, shame and isolation”, says the institution.
Therefore, we call for greater recognition of the different forms of violence, in order to guarantee measures for victims. It is essential that they seek immediate help, without any fear or guilt, and, according to the Portuguese Minister of Justice, Rita Júdice, this is through the Citizenship discipline.
