The Teleassistance Service to Support Domestic Violence Victims will be implemented in the District of Ponta Delgada, a pilot experience regarded by the Regional Secretary for Labour and Solidarity with expectation.

“I hope that this experience, one of the first to start at a national level, may bring excellent results and that victims may be better defended.”

Ana Paula Marques spoke on the sidelines of the signing ceremony of a cooperation protocol with the Portuguese Red Cross, which was held at the Regional Civil Engineering Laboratory in Ponta Delgada on Thursday, in order to implement the Teleassistance Service in the Azores in a 17,000 million Euro investment.

The new service is mainly addressed at victims who are at risk of victimisation with specific safety needs, which could be determined by judges or prosecutors during the investigation stage.

Similar to a mobile phone, this device has a central button, which can be activated by the victim in case of emergency. After being activated, call is made to a call centre operated by the Portuguese Red Cross which, in turn, will alert the authorities or even a team from the Regional Directorate for Equality of Opportunities, according to the type of emergency.

This device operates based on the triangulation of GSM and GPS/AGPS antennas, thus ensuring greater accuracy in terms of location as it sends the victim’s position through the GMS network. In addition, this device also allows tracking the victim’s path through the points obtained.

For the Regional Secretary this is another preventive and intervention measure to combat the phenomenon of domestic violence.
“Domestic violence is often hidden and women as well as seniors and children cannot defend themselves,” stated Ana Paula Marques.

One should remind that, under the Regional to Prevent and Combat Domestic Violence, the Government will implement in the Azores the Programme to Reduce the Impact of Marital Violence on Children. With this programme, the Azores will be provided with structured and integrated intervention plans addressed at perpetrators, victims and children.
 
On the occasion, the Regional Secretary for Labour and Social Solidarity also considered that the Region is now “better prepared” to combat the phenomenon of domestic violence in the Azores with the implementation of the measures envisaged in the Regional to Prevent and Combat Domestic Violence in the Azores, privileging an intervention based on a proximity policy which, through the creation of Local Centres, is aware o the specificities of the phenomenon on each island.

Local Centres, which bring together over 80 local public and private entities, with direct and indirect intervention in this problem, were created with the purpose of enhancing the resources to ensure an immediate response to support victims based on the co-responsibility of all entities involved in the different dimensions of the phenomenon of domestic violence.