A report from the International Labour Organisation praised Portugal for having boosted obligatory paternity leave from 10 to 15 days as well as providing time off for pre and post-natal appointments for both parents in a move echoed by France.
The ‘Women at Work: Trends 2016’ report compares data from some 178 countries, and notes that while differences persist, there has been some overall progress internationally.
Globally, Portugal is identified alongside Iceland, Norway and Sweden as being among the countries with better examples of maternity and paternity leave models.
According to an OECD report also released this week, Portugal is the member state with the fifth longest period of paternity leave, with a potential of 21 weeks to care for their newborns.
However, this report paints a different picture when it comes to the division of domestic chores.
Here, Portugal joins Estonia, India, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and Turkey as among the countries where women put in three times more time on such tasks than their male counterparts.
In related news, complaints of domestic violence have soared over the past three years.
There was a 50 percent increase in domestic violence complaints in Portugal between 2013 and 2015 according to the state attorney general, Joana Marques Vidal, addressing a conference on the subject on Monday.
Describing the numbers as “overwhelming”, the attorney general said that much of the increase was down to “greater civic awareness” about the issue coupled with “greater trust in the responses provided to those submitting complaints.”
Marques Vidal told the Oporto-located conference that the city has led the way in terms of its incidence of violence, followed by Central Lisbon, Lisbon East and then Braga, Lisbon North and Aveiro.
Last year, there were a total of 29 murders of females within domestic contexts against a 12-year average of 36 victims.
Stating that the vast bulk of victims were female, Marques Vidal identified four key facets that need strengthening and deepening in order to better deal with domestic violence: boosting risk evaluation capacities, the speed of response, the gathering and submission of effective evidence and better inter and intra-institutional cooperation and interaction.
The state attorney general concluded that “we are all responsible” as “domestic violence is a question of citizenship and necessarily involves all of the community.”