Arrecife offers psychological help to a hundred victims of gender violence in two years

The Psychological Support Service for Women Victims of Gender Violence, launched in June 2024 by the Arrecife City Council's Department of Social Welfare, Equality, and Immigration, headed by Maite Corujo, has provided attention to a total of 101 women during its first two years of operation. 90% of the users had minors in their care who also received attention from the service.

Funded by the State Pact against Gender Violence and developed in coordination with the Lanzarote Island Council's Center for Information and Specialized Intervention (CIAM), the resource has established itself as a specialized reference service to support women in their emotional recovery and promote their personal autonomy.

In this regard, Maite Corujo points out that the objective of the Arrecife City Council's Department of Social Welfare is “to strengthen the service so that every woman who needs support can access specialized psychological care”.

“The experience of these two years shows that recovery processes require time, specialized resources, and stability. We want to continue improving the service to adequately reach as many women as request it, attending to their real needs and also strengthening coordination with other specialized services existing on the Island,” adds the councilor.

Attention

The Psychological Support Service has offered individual and group attention to women over 16 years of age registered in Arrecife who are victims of any manifestation of gender violence, regardless of whether they have filed a report. In parallel, it has also attended to the minor children of the users.

Its mission has been to provide a safe space for psychological support to promote emotional recovery, strengthen self-esteem, rebuild support networks, and develop the necessary tools for those affected to rebuild their lives free from violence.

Specifically, during the second year of operation, 76 women were attended, of whom 45 were continuing their therapeutic process initiated during the first year and 37 were new referrals. Since its launch in June 2024, a total of 101 referrals have been registered, including two re-engagements of women who had previously completed their intervention.

In this second exercise, 50 cases were closed, of which 17 concluded after achieving the objectives set in the Individual Care Plan, a figure that demonstrates the importance of maintaining prolonged interventions to consolidate the comprehensive recovery of victims, as stated in the report prepared by the Canary Association for Family, Educational and Psychosocial Intervention and Mediation +Familia, contractor of the service.

Psychological sequelae

The assessment carried out by the professional team shows that most of the women attended present psychological sequelae derived from the violence suffered, especially anxiety, depression, and, in some cases, post-traumatic stress disorder.

Added to this are economic difficulties, problems accessing housing, prolonged legal proceedings, obstacles to work-life balance, and situations of particular vulnerability, such as those affecting migrant women or those facing serious mental health problems.