The deputy delegate of the Government in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Javier Plata, and the mayor of Arico, Olivia Mª Delgado, have today signed the protocol of collaboration and coordination between the State Security Forces and Bodies (FCSE) and Local Police Forces for the protection of the victims of Gender Violence (VioGén).
With this signature, 74 municipalities in the Canary Islands have already signed a protocol of police collaboration with the State to protect the victims of Gender Violence, which represents more than 80% of the Canarian municipal terms covered by this protection network, a percentage that rises to 100% in the case of Lanzarote – La Graciosa, Fuerteventura, La Gomera and El Hierro.
Arico also raises to 46 the number of Canarian municipalities within VioGén (27 of them in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife), a system that the State put into operation in 2007 to allow the rapid, integral and effective monitoring and protection of battered women, and their sons and daughters.
‘’Today I want to thank the City of Arico, especially its mayor, for the commitment in the fight against Gender Violence, particularly in the protection of victims. This commitment is materialized today with a symbolic gesture, that of the signing of a protocol that will have important benefits for women in the municipality, on the island and throughout the Canary Islands, thanks to the collaboration of a new team of Local Police in the protection of women and their daughters and sons’’, says the subdelegate of the Government in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
“The incorporation of Arico into the VioGén System of the Ministry of the Interior is undoubtedly great news for those of us who work every day in the fight against Gender Violence. Today’s signing is in itself the ratification of the commitment to the fight against male violence by the municipal corporation and its government team. Together we will continue to work to eradicate this scourge and protect all women,’’ he adds.
More than 80 percent of Canarian municipalities have their own protocol
Within the VioGén System, 45 other Canarian municipalities, 26 municipalities of the province of Tenerife and 19 of Las Palmas within VioGén have already signed their own collaboration protocols: Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tegueste, San Miguel de Abona, Güímar, Granadilla de Abona, El Rosario, Santiago del Teide, Puerto de La Cruz, Adeje, Candelaria, La Orotava, Fasnia, Vilaflor de Chasna, Los Realejos, Arafo, La Guancha, San Juan de la Rambla, Santa Úrsula, La Matanza de Acentejo
To these municipalities are added Moya, Tejeda, Artenara, Valleseco, Valsequillo and Firgas (Gran Canaria); El Paso, San Andrés and Sauces, Breña Alta, Villa de Mazo, Barlovento, Breña Baja, Tijarafe, Garafía, Puntallana, Puntagorda and Tazacorte (La Palma); Betancuria (Fuerteventura); Haria, Yaiza and Teguise (Lanzarote); Vallebelle and Gera.
According to the latest data from Ministry of the Interior, until 31 May, a total of 60,609 cases had been protected by the VioGén System in the Canary Islands, 31,494 in the province of Las Palmas and 29,115 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Of these, and until that same day, 5,968 remained active throughout the Archipelago, of which 2,684 were registered in the province of Las Palmas and 3,284 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
The search for collaboration between institutions at the various administrative levels against violence against women is part of the firm commitment of the Government of Spain to the fight against this social scourge and the protection of victims, within the framework of the State Pact on Gender Violence and Organic Law 1/2004.