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Lisbon, 25 Nov 2019 (Lusa) – The Portuguese Victim Support Association (APAV) has recorded over 100,000 crimes in the context of domestic violence in five years and supported over 43,000 people, the majority (86%) women.

In a set of statistics covering the period 2013-2018 released today, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, APAV recalls that it recorded a total of 43,456 cases supporting domestic victims of violence, which translates into a total of 104,729 crimes.

Aged between 26 and 55 years (about 42%), the victims of domestic violence were mostly married women (33.7%) and belonged to a type of nuclear family with children (41.2%). .

Considering the type of existing problems, the type of continued victimization prevails in about 80% of situations, with an average duration between two and six years (16.9%). APAV data indicate that residence was the most chosen location for the “occurrence of crimes” in about 64% of situations.

The reported complaints / complaints are 41.2% compared to the total number of reported perpetrators.

The victims are still mostly female – around 86% – the same percentage of male perpetrators / perpetrators.

“The phenomenon of domestic violence against women encompasses victims of all social and economic backgrounds and strata. Violence – physical, psychological, sexual, financial – cannot be tolerated, ”stresses APAV.

Within the framework of the Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, APAV states that it is associated with the #Declarations by the Portuguese Republic and the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (IGC) campaign, and promotes exhibitions, sessions and actions. nationwide through their victim support offices.

Data released last Friday by the government indicate that 33 people were killed this year in the context of domestic violence, including 25 adult women, one child and seven men.

According to the Minister of the Presidency, Mariana Vieira da Silva, between January and September of this year, compared to the same period last year, there was “an increase of more than 10% of the occurrences reported to PSP and GNR”, besides a “Increased responsiveness of the national support network for victims of domestic violence, which now has a 23% increase in attendance.”

On the same day, the Women’s Alternative and Response Union (UMAR), in a review of the past 15 years, indicated that more than 500 women were killed in the context of intimate relationships during this period, and that this year alone 28 died, some of them shot. , others strangled or beaten.

The data from UMAR’s Observatory of Murdered Women (OMA) can be found in the preliminary report presented in Lisbon which shows the reality of women murdered in Portugal from January 1st to November 12th.

During this period, and based on the news published in the national press, the OMA counted 28 women murdered in the context of intimate or family relations, in addition to two others killed in different contexts, and 27 attempted murders.

On balance, it means that on average there were three women murdered every month and an average of five women victims of extreme violence.

In a message on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which is marked today, the Prime Minister defended today that all citizens should “reap” to eliminate violence against women.

“All of us in society, each of us, have a responsibility in their family, their neighbours, their colleagues, among their friends not to tolerate, not to compromise, not to silence, and even to reap in order to eliminate violence against them.” women, “said Antonio Costa.

“Each of us has a duty to act. The traditional proverb that husband and wife do not get the spoon is not acceptable. What is the duty of each of us is to get the spoon. It is a duty of each.” , he stressed.

The population of Sines, on the Alentejo coast, is alarmed by the increase of stray dogs roaming the city streets, forcing the municipality to set up a collection centre to try to stop the phenomenon.

“There are several packs that are more or less identified, some with about 30 dogs. As the dogs are not sterilized, every three months there are between 20 and 30 dogs”, according to Alexandra Bento, President of “4 Patas”, animal protection association in Sines (Setúbal district).

Along with some volunteers and two cares, the caretaker spends part of her days trying to help “the 180 or so stray dogs” so far counted by the association, which spends nearly 10,000 euros each year on clinics and medicines to help the animals.

“Our daily routine is to help these animals, rescue them when they are injured and try to find owners for their babies. Many times it is not possible, because after three or four months, they already know how to defend themselves, making their rescue very difficult”, she says.

The animals “are fed daily by care givers”, two 70-year-old women who receive food provided by the association for “dogs in small shelters”.

Built by volunteers, mostly cardboard and palletized, the shelters “protect them from rain and cold” and become permanent home for packs who recognize carers and tolerate their daily visits in exchange for food and water.

But these sites can become a public health problem, and she is advocating changes in legislation to “allow sterilization of street dogs” and to prevent “the pack from continuing to grow”.

Without a kennel, wandering animals congregate in groups around large commercial areas, in neighbourhoods, gardens and the outskirts of the city and do not go unnoticed by most people who fear attacks.

“There are sometimes people who are attacked,” Susa Mayor Nuno Mascarenhas admits to Lusa, claiming to have ‘inherited’ a problem that has been going on for many years since the closure of the only kennel that existed in the county.

The Lusa agency asked the authorities for more information regarding possible complaints of dog attacks on the public road, but to no avail.

 

This year alone, a total of 70 dogs were collected in the city of Sines and “most of them were given up for adoption,” explains the mayor, who advanced this year with the construction of an Official Pet Collection Center (CRO).

“The camera is trying to pick up the dogs and find locations in private [canine hotel] units, paying to let the animals, but we have recently decided to move forward with the work of the CRO, which we expect to be completed by 2020 to meet these needs,” the statement said. Mayor

This “much faster response” is applauded by the Sines animal advocacy association, but “not enough” to “accommodate the number of stray dogs that currently exist in the city” and which, according to Alexandra Bento, “has been getting worse, with the increased abandonment of companion dogs.”

“The camera rescues these animals, which are the most dangerous, because they can’t walk in the street to some temporary boxes that are full. Therefore, the work of the CRO is welcome, but it would be essential not only for Sines but for the whole country to be allowed to sterilize the street dogs or to advance with the construction of ‘pack spaces’, “argues the official.

According to the mayor, the collection centre, with an investment of 197 thousand euros, “will be just a transit zone” for a large number of these stray animals, since it is planned to build an inter-municipal kennel to “minimize this problem”.

“The five municipalities of the Alentejo coast (Sines, Santiago do Cacém, Grândola, Alcácer do Sal and Odemira) have decided to build an intermunicipal kennel in Santiago do Cacém, a project that is at a very early stage and will provide a sufficient response to the problems that we have had in this region, ”he says.

 

Two men were arrested after a police operation for being “heavily indicted” for qualified robbery, damage and possession of prohibited weapons, the Judiciary Police (PJ) said on Friday, believing it had dismantled a “criminal group”.

In a statement, the Northern Directorate of the PJ describes that during the early hours of Friday, in the police operation organised to arrest these two suspects, “there was a need to open fire to stop them, especially since they were carrying two guns and tried to use them against police.”

The PJ stated that  it had disbanded “a criminal group” suspected last month of “committing about 30 crimes of robberies at fuel stations and others, criminal damage an attempted homicide.”

“On the night of 14^th and 15^th November the group committed 14 firearm-related crimes in which they indiscriminately fired at the victims,” ​​PJ says, saying the two men have “vast criminal records.”

This Friday, “when approaching the police to make arrests, the suspects reacted violently, disregarding orders and attacking police vehicles,” PJ describes.

Following the persecution in Vila Nova de Gaia, the men were taken to hospital due to “injuries sustained in making their arrest”.

According to PJ, a first member of the group had been arrested at  dawn on 17^th November, after having committed “three more crimes”.

This first detainee was awaiting the outcome of the trial in custody, PJ added.

With these three arrests, the PJ “dismantled a criminal group that for about a month had been committing violent crimes against property and people using firearms.”

Lisbon, 21 Nov 2019 (Lusa) – Home Affairs Minister Eduardo Cabrita today highlighted “responsible unionism” and the “high democratic maturity” of the demonstration that today brought together over 13,000 PSP and GNR military agents in Lisbon .

In a statement at the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Lisbon, after the protest was over, Eduardo Cabrita said that “the Government values ​​social dialogue.”

The official assured that he will continue the dialogue already started with the representative associations of the PSP and the GNR, in what he called the program of social dialogue and action for the “valorisation” of the security forces. He did not comment on the possibility admitted today by the professionals for a new demonstration for January 21st.

According to the minister, this program “integrates matters that are expressly foreseen in the Government’s program, namely a multi-annual program of recruitment to the security forces that allows them to be rejuvenated and to regain an operational capacity that the level of recruitment of the last two years has allowed.

Eduardo Cabrita spoke of “taking stock of the experience of the security forces programming law, which will allow us to start working on the new programming law for the period after 2021”.

He also said that priority will be given to a health and safety at work, which will give these professionals a regime that is appropriate to their type of specific safety safeguard duties for the Portuguese.

The minister added that an analysis of the remuneration regime will be made, considering the framework of supplements, allowances and additional remuneration that are received by the two security forces so that it can be coherent to adopt it in the future.

Eduardo Cabrita pointed out that PSP also assured today the security conditions in the framework of its functions to safeguard the right of demonstration and the right of movement and conveyed a message of recognition to the professionals who guaranteed it in the city of Lisbon..

Protesters from the security forces began at about 1 pm at the Marquis de Pombal, from where a parade to the parliament took place, where around 13,000 protesters, according to the organization, were guarded by a strong police force.

The peaceful demonstration was still marked by several symbolic and peaceful acts, and the threat of a new protest was threatened if the government failed to meet its demands.

Nearly 20% of home and leisure accidents that required emergency use in the first half of this year occurred in seniors over 75, mostly at home (67%), according to official figures.

According to data from the EVITA − Epidemiology and Surveillance of Injuries and Accidents, coordinated by the National Institute of Health Doctor Ricardo Jorge (INSA, IP), between January and June this year 60,000 domestic accidents were recorded in the emergency room of health services, mostly in men (31,176).

The EVITA system collects and analyses data on home and leisure accidents that have led to the emergency of health units of the National Health Service (NHS).

Data from January to June this year, 14% of people who resorted to the emergency response for domestic leisure accidents, were between 10 and 14 years old and that the majority occurred in schools / public places. (60%).

One in ten cases of emergency use for domestic accidents was with elderly people between 65 and 74 years old, most (62%) at home, as well as one in ten adults between 20 and 34 years old (45 % at home).

According to figures recorded by EVITA, accidents involving children under the age of four who had to resort to emergencies occurred mostly at home (66%), but from that age on and up to 19 years the largest weight goes to accidents in schools. or in public places.

The age group 0-4 years was the one that least resorted (7%) to the urgencies of public services for domestic and leisure accidents, followed by people between 45 and 54 years (8%), mostly for accidents at home. (61%), outdoors (13%) or in transportation areas (10%).

Data from the EVITA system also indicate that more than half of accidents requiring emergency public health care occur at home (53% in women and 42% in men) and that workplace accidents account for only 2%. % (women) and 4% (men).

In the first half of the year, May was the month in which most domestic and leisure accidents (12,526) forced to resort to emergencies, while the month with the fewest records was June (9,189).

As for the distribution of the number of domestic and leisure accidents by day of the week, Tuesday was the day with the most emergency resources for this reason (9,157 cases). At the opposite end is Sunday, with 8,129 records.

The EVITA surveillance program, created in 2000, is part of the IDB Network (Injury DataBase), together with organizations from 25 countries of the European Association for Injury Prevention (EuroSafe).

The system is based on the registration of home and leisure accidents in a sample of NHS emergency services. These accidents are defined as all whose cause is not illness, car accident, work accident or violence.

 

Chief Superintendent of the Lisbon Metropolitan Command of the Public Security Police (PSP), Jorge Maurício, warned on 19^th November about the cases of assaults on police, revealing that 238 incidents were registered between January and September this year.

“We must not forget that the police are the visible face of state authority,” said Jorge Mauricio, arguing that the institutions, particularly the judiciary, should intervene in the situation of aggression against security forces.

Attending the PSP’s 152 anniversary commemorative ceremony of the Lisbon Metropolitan Command, the Minister of Internal Affairs considered that “aggression against a police officer is an aggression against the democratic rule of law that must be exemplarily repressed”, pointing out that personal integrity and the image of respect for police forces are at stake.

Recalling that Portugal was recently distinguished as the third safest country in the world, Eduardo Cabrita praised the contribution of the “most demanding standards of police action”, with technical and operational capacity to know how, when and how to intervene.

“It is a police for the defence of the rule of democratic law, a police that tolerates neither domestic violence nor racism nor xenophobia, a police force that is an active force for inclusion”, reinforced by the Minister.

In addition to the 238 assaulted police cases recorded in the first nine months of this year, PSP’s chief superintendent of the Lisbon Metropolitan Command made known “the other party”, in which 1,215 police cases have been filed from 2014 to September this year.

Of the total cases brought against police, 876 were filed, which corresponds to 72%, 177 are awaiting decision (14%), 23 were decided with penalty and seven were appealed against, according to data from the PSP Metropolitan Command of Lisbon.

For crime, operating results, comparing 2018 to 2019, point to a reduction of overall crime by more than 5.5% and a 16% decrease in violent and serious crime.

“Very good numbers for what is, at this moment, the issue of human resources”, considered Jorge Maurício, revealing that there are today 1,255 fewer police than in 2011.

On operational concerns, the Chief Superintendent listed the incidence of crimes against the most vulnerable groups, such as scams against the elderly, of stab wounds, which this year saw a sharp increase, and the sale of pressed laurel (sold as fake drugs), which creates a very strong image of unpleasantness of the city and accounting for around 600 case reports in 2018.

Regarding operational “success”, the head of PSP’s Lisbon Metropolitan Command indicated the issue of pickpockets, where there was “more than 30% reduction in crime in this typology”, and “many preventive arrests”, including in cases of domestic violence.

Chief Superintendent of the Lisbon Metropolitan Command of the Public Security Police (PSP), Jorge Maurício, warned on 19^th November about the cases of assaults on police, revealing that 238 incidents were registered between January and September this year.

“We must not forget that the police are the visible face of state authority,” said Jorge Mauricio, arguing that the institutions, particularly the judiciary, should intervene in the situation of aggression against security forces.

Attending the PSP’s 152 anniversary commemorative ceremony of the Lisbon Metropolitan Command, the Minister of Internal Affairs considered that “aggression against a police officer is an aggression against the democratic rule of law that must be exemplarily repressed”, pointing out that personal integrity and the image of respect for police forces are at stake.

Recalling that Portugal was recently distinguished as the third safest country in the world, Eduardo Cabrita praised the contribution of the “most demanding standards of police action”, with technical and operational capacity to know how, when and how to intervene.

“It is a police for the defence of the rule of democratic law, a police that tolerates neither domestic violence nor racism nor xenophobia, a police force that is an active force for inclusion”, reinforced by the Minister.

In addition to the 238 assaulted police cases recorded in the first nine months of this year, PSP’s chief superintendent of the Lisbon Metropolitan Command made known “the other party”, in which 1,215 police cases have been filed from 2014 to September this year.

Of the total cases brought against police, 876 were filed, which corresponds to 72%, 177 are awaiting decision (14%), 23 were decided with penalty and seven were appealed against, according to data from the PSP Metropolitan Command of Lisbon.

For crime, operating results, comparing 2018 to 2019, point to a reduction of overall crime by more than 5.5% and a 16% decrease in violent and serious crime.

“Very good numbers for what is, at this moment, the issue of human resources”, considered Jorge Maurício, revealing that there are today 1,255 fewer police than in 2011.

On operational concerns, the Chief Superintendent listed the incidence of crimes against the most vulnerable groups, such as scams against the elderly, of stab wounds, which this year saw a sharp increase, and the sale of pressed laurel (sold as fake drugs), which creates a very strong image of unpleasantness of the city and accounting for around 600 case reports in 2018.

Regarding operational “success”, the head of PSP’s Lisbon Metropolitan Command indicated the issue of pickpockets, where there was “more than 30% reduction in crime in this typology”, and “many preventive arrests”, including in cases of domestic violence.

The Consulate General of Portugal in Macao and Hong Kong has asked Portuguese students in Hong Kong to send their personal data for support at a time of violent clashes in universities of the territory. Details can be found here.

The diplomatic representation “requests all Portuguese-speaking students in Hong Kong to send us via email to macau@mne.pt the following information: name; Citizen’s card or passport; telephone contact; email; university where they are studying”, reads a statement issued on Facebook by the Portuguese consulate.

“This information is essential for the consulate to be able to provide any support if the need arises,” he said.

In an emergency, the Consulate added, students can “seek support by calling +853 28356632 or macau@mne.pt or the Consular Emergency Office (24-hour call) at +351 217929714 / +351 961706472 or from the address gec@mne.pt“.

Hong Kong’s universities have since Monday, 11 November, become the scene of violent clashes for the first time.

At least 11 higher education institutions have announced that classes are suspended, according to broadcaster RTHK.

More than 80 mainland Chinese students from CUHK have been pulled off campus due to clashes. These Chinese students were transported to the neighbouring city of Shenzhen, the SCMP reported. Several hundred rioters still remain on the CUHK campus.

At a press conference, Hong Kong police accused CUHK of becoming a “weapons factory”. The forces said 400 Molotov cocktail bombs were dropped against authorities on Tuesday, 12 November, and “several hundred” were dropped on the university’s campus. On the police side, 1,567 shots of tear gas were fired on Tuesday and 1,312 rubber bullets.

The protests, now in their sixth month, have led to the arrest of 4,491 people, the youngest aged 11. Masked radicals have besieged roads, set fires on streets, vandalised MTR stations, businesses and banks, and occupied universities. Mobs have attacked police officers at the front line, hurling petrol bombs and bricks, and shooting at them with bows and arrows.

Police have responded by firing more than 10,000 rounds of tear gas and 18 live rounds. About 1,700 people have been injured, including 450 officers.

Lisbon, 18 Nov 2019 (Lusa) – Until September four municipalities concentrated one third of the quarries in critical situation, with need for signs in the surrounding area, according to the Intervention Plan presented today by the Government, which involved the placement of more than 1,200 traffic signs.

The Critical Quarry Intervention Plan is the result of a survey by the Mining Development Company following the accident of November 19, 2018, when a section of road between Borba and Vila Viçosa collapsed, causing five fatalities.

Between March and April, the authorities visited the 150 quarries identified as being in critical condition and needing traffic signs in the surrounding area.

Signage plans were then sent to the managing bodies of the roads and, between May and September, the signs were placed on these roads.

According to information distributed today at the presentation of the implementation of the Intervention Plan in Lisbon, the placement of road signs was completed on 25 September.

A total of 1,253 signs were installed, of which 151 are directional (44 specific to persons, seven for heavy vehicles and 72 are general) and 1,102 unspecified signs, in an investment of around 196 million euros.

The municipality of Vila Viçosa (Évora district) had the largest number of quarries in need of signage in the surrounding area (19), followed by the municipalities of Alcobaça (Leiria district), Borba (Évora) and Ponte de Lima ( Viana do Castelo), with 13 quarries each.

Mondim de Basto and Penafiel appeared next, with eight quarries each.

As a precautionary measure, the plan stated that quarries had to signal the danger of sloping fronts or steep slopes, including the creation of safety zones, and to signal danger in quarry access.

It was also identified the need to signal the danger of lagoons, where drowning accidents or exposure to other depth factors may occur, and to signal the danger of collapsing or downgrading of roads, including conditioning and interdictions of traffic and installation. of protection systems.

Of these 150 quarries identified, 36 are dedicated to marble exploration, 34 to granite, 19 to sands and clays and many to ornamental granite. Ten quarries are dedicated to the exploitation of ornamental limestone and six to shales and slates, while another 26 quarries refer to the exploration of other unspecified ores.

Regarding the particularities of the signage plans, 78 isolated quarries were identified – which corresponded to 78 plans – and 72 sets of quarries located in contiguous exploration areas (quarry core), corresponding to 20 plans.

The Intervention Plan made it possible to identify 191 quarries in critical situation (including the 150 requiring signage).

Regarding the geographical location of the 191 quarries, 77 are in the northern region (where there are 460 class 1 and 2 quarries), 32 in the Centro region (where there are 321), 24 in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley regions (with 297 quarries), 55 in the Alentejo (with 308) and three in the Algarve (with 40).

According to statistics from the Directorate-General for Energy and Geology, in 2018 the amount produced in the quarries was around 48 million tonnes, with a production value of approximately 350 million euros, in an activity that employs 5,389 workers.

 

The Jersey Evening Post have reported that on 15^th November a Madeiran emigrant Laurentina Da Conceicao Baptista Martins Gouveia (64) had appeared in the Royal Court after pleading guilty to knowingly furnishing false information or withholding information to obtain an award and obtaining an award knowing that it was not payable.

Requesting a two-year jail sentence, Crown Advocate Chris Baglin, prosecuting, told the court that on 3 April 2008 Mrs Gouveia had submitted an application form for income support as she had stopped work because of a medical condition, but failed to declare that she was living with her husband or that she owned property in Madeira.

It was only in March 2018, after being sent a change-in-circumstances form, that she admitted she had been living with her partner for three years. However, when asked if she owned a property overseas, she ticked the ‘no’ box.

She also revealed that her husband had a savings account at HSBC which she had not previously declared.

Besides the income support payments, Gouveia also claimed £1,520.05 in ‘special payments’ from the government for carpets, a fridge and cooker, glasses and dental work.

In total she claimed £70,128.61. She has since begun making repayments but £66,499.29 remains outstanding.

Sir William, in sentencing, said that Jurats Charles Blampied and David Hughes had been split about sending the defendant to jail.

‘The amount of time that the court spent outside shows that we have considered this very carefully,’ he said.

‘I have sided with the Jurat who thought a prison sentence is appropriate but I also take very much of the fact that the defendant has pleaded guilty and had good character, which is to her credit. I have also taken account of her age.’