The Guardia Urbana of Barcelona has inaugurated two police stations to assist victims of gender violence and their children.
These spaces, called Victim Assistance Services (SAV), are designed to offer comprehensive and personalized attention to victims.
They have friendly waiting areas to reduce victim distress and stress.
In addition, they offer facilities for statement-taking with tables that allow visual contact between victim and agent.
And they have an adjacent play area so the children don’t have to listen to the mother’s statement.
Police stations for victims of gender violence
The services are located in the police stations of the Guardia Urbana in the districts of Nou Barris and Ciutat Vella and the idea is to extend them throughout the city.
In order to respond to the needs, there will be 23 agents and commanders with specialized training in gender violence, as well as collaboration between the various social services of the Barcelona City Council.
For their part, the Barcelona Fire Department has also adopted a guide to be able to detect “situations of vulnerability of hidden male violence whenever they enter homes”.
They claim that everything can be detected, even when they arrive to answer a call for a kitchen fire.
In this way, it is expected to be able to detect more cases of gender violence that have gone unnoticed until now.
Increase in cases
The head of the Guardia Urbana has warned that criminal acts due to gender violence have increased by more than 24% between 2019 and 2022.
For this reason, having SAVs is a valuable initiative to offer specialized services to victims.
This comprehensive care service represents an important measure to combat gender-based violence and protect victims and their children.
The opening of these spaces is the response of local authorities to address a problem that affects society in general and requires concrete actions.
Some objectives of the SAVs
Strengthen attention and protection for victims of gender violence through the creation of shelters, telephone hotlines and psychological support.
Train public servants and society in general in human rights, gender perspective and prevention of gender violence.
Promote prevention and social awareness campaigns on gender violence.
Coordinate actions between different government agencies and civil society organizations to prevent and address gender-based violence.
The objective is that the initiative can be replicated in other cities in order to effectively combat abuses against the defenseless population.
