Speaking outside a seminar on the issue taking place in Maia, Oporto, sub-comm-issioner Barros told Lusa News Agency that domestic violence was clearly a priority given its incidence and prevalence, which placed it only behind vehicle theft in terms of reported crimes.
In 2013, there had been a total of 43 female deaths resulting from domestic violence and that a further six had already taken place in 2015 with Barros adding that he did not have the figures for 2014.
But he added that the incidence of cases did not however reflect meaningful progress on the issue as police officers reported that many plaintiffs “gave up on cooperating” resulting in cases getting filed for lack of evidence.
Barros added that this refusal to cooperate stemmed either from the passage of time meaning the victim no longer wanted to advance with the case or that they had been subject to threats and pressures with the children frequently deployed as the means to leverage in such arguments.
In particular, attention needed paying “to the importance of working in networks interlinking the different institutions involved in the various dimensions of domestic violence.