The Office of the Ombudsman has welcomed the implementation of the new protocol for assessment by the police of the degree of risk of gender violence and for managing the safety of victims, which includes a guidebook with safety advice.
The protocol, which was signed in at the end of July by the Secretary of State for Security, Francisco Martínez, also establishes new questionnaires for the police to use for assessing the degree of risk faced by women who report threats, physical abuse or aggression.
The improvement in instruments for detecting the risk of gender violence and protecting the victims, especially as regards coordination between government authorities, has been a constant concern of the Office of the Ombudsman, which last year called for the update of the police risk-assessment indicators that were the object of the new protocol.
For the last few years, the Ombudsman has supervised, among others, the degree of compliance with the “National Strategy for Eradicating Violence Against Women 2013-2016” and has called for strengthening all autonomous regional and municipal plans for integral and individualised action with women victims of gender violence and their children.
For the Ombudsman, Soledad Becerril, “combating gender violence and guaranteeing the safety of the women and children affected is a priority that involves us all” and for which this new protocol is “an important step forward”.
