A total of 5,527 women in the Canary Islands are included in the Viogen protection system against gender violence, of which 67 are under age and 126 are over 65 years old, and of the total, there are 46 high-risk cases, according to data provided this Wednesday by the Department of Social Welfare.
As of October 31, and according to data from the Ministry of the Interior collected in the monthly statistical bulletin of the Government Delegation against Gender Violence, the security forces are monitoring the situations of gender violence suffered by these women in the Canary Islands.
According to these data, of the 67 minors included in the Viogen system, there are two high-risk cases and 18 medium-risk cases.
Of the 126 people over 65 years of age, there is one high-risk case and 16 medium-risk cases, as indicated this Wednesday by the Department in a note.
Of the total active cases in the Canary Islands, 46 are high-risk and 952 are medium-risk.
In addition, in 2,851 cases the victim has minors in their care, in 702 cases they are in a situation of vulnerability and in 85 at risk, that is, the police assessment indicates that they may also be the object of aggression by the abuser.
Another 669 are considered cases of special relevance because a special combination of indicators is detected that significantly increases the probability that the aggressor will exert very serious or lethal violence on the victim, adds the Department, which indicates that the VioGen system integrates all the information necessary to monitor and protect victims.
Police training
The Department has provided these data in a note in which it also reports that the Canary Islands Institute of Equality (ICI) provided training throughout 2023 on police intervention in cases of cyber violence against women to 34 women and 135 men agents who are members of security forces.
The director of the ICI, Ana Brito, considers that the police are usually among the first to come to protect the victim in cases of violence and their action in the first moments "is vital to collect fundamental data in each case.”
They are usually on the front line of help and that is why it is so important that they have the appropriate training, the integral knowledge of what gender violence is, how it blocks and annuls the victim and show sufficient empathy to conduct interrogations, collect evidence or the actions that need to be carried out in the development of their police intervention, she adds.
Among the objectives of this training project is to provide personnel who deal with citizen security with the necessary tools to react to real situations under the paradigm of assertive and empathetic treatment with the victim.
It also seeks to establish common criteria for the treatment of victims of gender violence both by the police collective and by institutions and to improve the shortcomings detected in police protocols on gender violence.
