The deputy delegate of the Government in A Coruña, María Rivas, participated this morning in the Provincial Commission on Gender Violence, held at the Provincial High Court of A Coruña and led by its president, Ignacio Picatoste.
The Provincial Commission is of a technical nature and is responsible for coordinating all institutions working to eradicate gender-based violence in order to avoid gaps in the system of protection for victims.
In the context of this commission, the Government’s deputy delegate has stressed the urgency of continuing to work on the protection of victims of male violence. She recalled that currently in the province there are more than 2,000 women included in the Viogén system, a system aimed at monitoring and protecting women victims of gender violence. “That is more than 2,000 reasons to continue improving and advancing in this fight without allowing us to take a single step backwards,” said the deputy delegate.
More than 30,000 complaints since 2009
Since 2009, when there are records of Gender Violence, 23 women have died in the province of A Coruña, 31,943 complaints have been filed and 8,624 protection orders have been issued.
So far this year, there have been no fatalities in our province, but 686 complaints have already been filed, and there are 232 protection orders filed.
In the face of these “intolerable” data, María Rivas stresses the need to guarantee the safety and physical and emotional well-being of the victims. “We are not going to bend, or skimp resources, we will continue to improve and work to stop this violence.”
Viogen system
Currently, there are already 22 municipalities in the province of A Coruña integrated into the Viogen system that allows the Local Police to have more information about all active cases of male violence in the municipality. In this way, the local agents themselves assume the follow-up and control of some of these cases, generally those that are considered to be of low or unappreciated risk level. In the most dangerous cases it is the State Security Forces and Corps that are responsible for monitoring.
So far this year, there are already 2,021 women who have some kind of Viogen protection. Last year they were a total of 1,954.
María Rivas considers it essential that municipalities join this surveillance system since “local administration is the closest to the citizens and, therefore, the local police in each municipality have a greater knowledge of women who are victims of male violence.”
For the subdelegate, the exchange of information between all administrations is “essential and vital” to be able to act “in a coordinated and effective way”
Other resources to combat male violence
The subdelegate has also pointed out other tools that the Government makes available to victims. Among them, the 016 telephone number that leaves no trace on the telephone bill in which it is heard and guides the victim on how to act at each moment. During 2022, in the province of A Coruña a total of 2,169 calls have been registered and so far in 2023 , 1,339 have been made.
María Rivas also highlighted the Telephone Service for Care and Protection for Victims of Gender Violence (Atenpro). This is a service modality that, with the appropriate technology, offers victims of gender violence immediate attention, in case of eventualities that may occur, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and wherever they are.
In the province of A Coruña, so far this year Atenpro has 411 users, while in 2022 the total number of users was 430.
The Local Interinstitutional Coordination Tables against Gender Violence, are other tools highlighted by the subdelegate. There are currently 36 municipalities in the province in which they have been formed. It is an operational instrument in which all the agents directly or indirectly involved in the fight against male violence are represented, with the aim of optimizing all the necessary resources.
The subdelegate has also highlighted the economic amount received by the 93 municipalities of the province through the funds of the State Pact against Gender Violence, an amount that amounts to 687,635 euros.
In addition to all face-to-face, telephone and online information, the victim has at his disposal advice throughout the judicial and police procedure.
The Provincial Commission on Gender Violence was launched in 2018 and represents institutions with competence in this type of crime, including, in addition to the judiciary, Prosecutor’s Office, City Council, Government Subdelegation, Xunta, Provincial Council, Civil Guard, National Police, A Coruña Bar Association, A Coruña Bar Association and the A Coruña Institute of Legal Medicine.