According to data handled by the Municipal Team Specialized in Child and Family Care (EMEIF), dependent on the Department of Social Welfare, more than thirty children in Arrecife suffer some type of sexual violence and most cases occur within the family environment.
“Sixteen of these cases came to us in the first instance, which is why the continuous training of each and every person on this team is important,” says the councilor, who calls for citizen awareness and points to the imperative need to report when there is the slightest suspicion. “There are more and more cases and it is necessary for everyone to collaborate to help the victims,” she emphasizes.
Aware of the training need to be able to address these situations in a more specialized way, the Minors Team regularly participates in conferences such as the one recently held in the capital on the Law on comprehensive protection of children and adolescents against violence (LOPIVI), organized by the Department of Social Welfare, and the CLAVE-A Program, Protection of Children and Adolescents against Violence.
Likewise, Maite Corujo explains that “although it is true that in the Social Welfare Area we cannot offer legal advice, we can refer these cases to the resources that can do so and we can provide the appropriate accompaniment and monitoring.”
In this way, as the councilor underlines, there is a "coordination and permanent contact" with educational centers, health centers, the Social Welfare Area of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, the rest of the municipalities, associations, the Minors and Family Unit of the Local Police (UMEF) and the Family and Women's Care Unit of the National Police (UFAM).
“To improve our protection work and guarantee the well-being of all these minors, all the actors involved need to have the necessary tools and society needs to be informed of what is happening.”