UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 41) A nationwide prevention and victim protection strategy was implemented in the last decade, in partnership with civil society. This strategy included annual information campaigns: in 2010, the focus was on encouraging reporting of domestic violence ...

Para 41) Measures adopted by law enforcement agencies, namely within community policing strategies, include ... activities undertaken within the "Safe School" programme. Initiatives specifically targeted at children and youngsters include the introduction in school curricula, from the earliest grades, of contents relating to gender equality, domestic and gender-based violence.

Para 42) The number of domestic violence cases registered by police forces increased from 2008 to 2010 and has been decreasing since then (26678 cases in 2012) ...

UN Compilation:
Para 34)... The HR Committee was concerned that domestic violence continued to be prevalent and that victims often did not report the crime due to traditional societal attitudes ...

National Report:
Para 81) ENIND/ VAWDV action plan, together with the National Support Network for DV Victims are core instruments in preventing and combating VAWDV. The new action plan focuses on six strategic goals: … 2) support and protect by expanding and consolidating intervention;
Para 82) Portuguese law provides a complete and comprehensive legal framework on the investigation and prosecution of the crime of DV. Article 152 of CC, which defines the crime of DV, was recently amended by Law 44/2018, adding a new aggravating circumstance: the dissemination, on the Internet or by any other means of public dissemination, of personal data, namely image or sound, regarding the privacy of one of the victims without his/her consent. In this case, the penalty is increased.
Para 95) After placing a formal complaint, victims are granted a status of special vulnerability and DV victim and are entitled to support measures.
Para 96) The RNAVVD foresees support centres and short and long-term shelters, according to the different levels of risk assessment, and present various types of interventions to victims and their children.
Para 97) Portugal has 40 shelters for women and minors, including one for men with 6 vacancies, shelters for disabled women and women with mental illnesses (totalling 17 vacancies). There are 26 emergency centres for women including 1 for men and 1 for LGBTI people.
Para 98) There are 122 support centres, including for women victims of sexual violence, for men victims of DV and sexual abuse, and LGBTI people.
Para 99) Since 2016, the Government is reinforcing the RNAVVD namely through partnerships with municipalities, local authorities and NGOs, to ensure nationwide coverage and suitability of the network according to territorial specificities. New regulations were adopted in 2018 concerning RNAVVD’s organisation and functioning in terms of counselling, emergency housing and shelters for DV victims.
Para 100) CIG developed a “Resource Guide” and launched, in 2017, the AppVD mobile application, which provides information on all the support services available, ways to file a complaint or to request information.
Para 101) Regarding NHS, Order 5655/2017 reinforced the integrated intervention model of interpersonal violence throughout the lifecycle and teams for adult violence prevention mechanisms and clarified some of their functioning issues.
Para 102) To reinforce training of relevant professionals, namely in the justice (prosecutors, judges, lawyers, court clerks), security forces and health areas (medical doctors, nurses, administrative staff), CIG established protocols to provide more adequate training opportunities.
Para 103) Law 72/2015 and Law 96/2017 (see chapter B) consider DV as a crime of priority prevention and investigation. 104. In 2018, the Prosecutor General established a WG on DV to outline its DV strategy, including the adoption of best practices and the standardisation of procedures in criminal courts, and in family and children’s courts.
Para 105) Investigation and prosecution of DV victims has been increasing, as well as the number of persons convicted for this crime in first instance criminal courts: from 1.661 in 2014 to 1.909 in 2017125 .
Para 106) Under the EEA Grants, a study will be initiated in 2019 to assess the efficacy of measures applied to perpetrators and identify needs for improvement.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 28) EU-FRA noted that the Civil Code was amended to allow for the Public Prosecutor to consider imposing protection orders due to domestic violence, when initiating and deciding on parental responsibilities.

National Report:
Para 7) A number of comprehensive human rights policy instruments have been approved: the 4th and 5th National Plans against Domestic/Gender-Based Violence (2011-2013 and 2014-2017)

Para 11) Within the Council of Europe framework, Portugal ratified ... the Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.

Para 32) In February 2013, legal amendments were introduced in order to extend the concept of domestic violence to dating and other intimate relationships without cohabitation. Concerning issues of "prosecution and punishment", we recall that Portugal has accepted recommendations 103.5 and 103.6 "on the understanding that they are to be interpreted as meaning that the Government accepts to facilitate prosecution and sanction through the enactment and implementation of legislation and other administrative measures". Data on the relationship between defendant and victim in murder crimes are now collected, and efforts have been made to standardise reporting and data collection procedures (in courts, prosecution services and police stations) concerning victims of domestic violence, results of investigations and final court decisions, including the creation of a website and a database.

Para 33) Special teams to investigate crimes of domestic violence, to undertake preventive action and to deal with victims in police stations have been established. Public prosecution is developing integrated responses to accelerate the investigation of crimes of domestic violence and adequately protect victims, including women, children and the elderly. Guidelines and technical assistance are being provided to help courts assess the risk of re- occurrence of domestic violence. Violence against elderly women has recently been an issue of particular focus, with the active participation of law enforcement agencies and public prosecutors in the EU Project "Mind the Gap" (comprising research, awareness- raising and training activities, and exchange of best practices).

Para 34) Prevention efforts include measures to reduce social acceptance of domestic and gender-based violence, promote equality, eliminate gender stereotypes and empower women and girls, such as annual awareness-raising campaigns to inform women of their rights and promote their ability to report. Specific training sessions have been provided to, inter alia, social workers, public prosecutors, security forces, teachers and medical staff.

Para 35) Measures have been adopted in the area of forensic medicine, such as training courses for medical experts dealing with domestic violence cases, scientific meetings, protocols to coordinate interventions in this area and the creation of a dedicated hospital unit, with specific rules of procedure, to help victims.

Para 37) A number of provisions have been introduced to regulate aspects covered by the Act on the prevention of domestic violence and on the protection of and assistance to its victims, adopted in September 2009. These include the recognition of the status of victim (to all alleged victims as soon as a domestic violence incident is reported); the urgent nature of domestic violence proceedings (a Constitutional Court decision of 2012 has underlined the urgent nature of these cases); the use of remote surveillance means to control perpetrators (mandatory since February 2013); possibility to arrest perpetrators even if not caught in the act ...

Para 38) Prevention of re-offending through work with perpetrators is an innovative area of intervention: a pilot project in this area has been extended in order to cover the entire Portuguese territory and programmes are ongoing, within and outside prisons, to rehabilitate and reintegrate such offenders, including through the implementation of individualised plans.

Para 41) A nationwide prevention and victim protection strategy was implemented in the last decade, in partnership with civil society. This strategy included annual information campaigns: in 2010, the focus was on encouraging reporting of domestic violence; in 2011 on marital homicides; and in 2012 on vicarious victimisation. Measures adopted by law enforcement agencies, namely within community policing strategies, include an increase in the number of agents in victim-support teams, the creation and improvement of dedicated facilities for victims in police stations, and activities undertaken within the "Safe School" programme. Initiatives specifically targeted at children and youngsters include the introduction in school curricula, from the earliest grades, of contents relating to gender equality, domestic and gender-based violence.