“The time has come for us to take things a step further and work from a perspective of a truly participatory democracy with regards to domestic and gender violence, which integrates sexual violence”, the State Secretary said during a seminar on the issue held in Lisbon.
This Thursday, a work group dedicated to Citizenship and Gender Equality held its first ever meeting, which aimed to follow up on all public policies within its field. State Secretary Marcelino said that the group would focus “all its efforts in guaranteeing the strengthening of measures of strategic partnerships between the government and non-governmental organisations” that have the goal of fighting sexual violence.
“The human rights of women and girls are inalienable and indivisible, whether in the public realm or in the private realm”, stressed Catarina Marcelino, referring to information from the Home Affair’s annual RASI report, which indicates that in 2014 “women made up the majority of victims of this type of crime (92 percent).”
Recalling that “Portugal has been at the forefront in the fight against gender violence” and was the first EU member state to ratify the Istanbul Convention, signed two years ago, the State Secretary listed the commitment’s main objectives as “protecting women against all forms of violence” and “creating protection policies and assistance for all victims of violence against women and domestic violence.”