Católica's research team launches "PRO.VI - Protect the Rights of the Victims" Guide for professionals

Last February 22nd, the 31st European Day for the Victim of Crime was marked. Recently, Faculdade de Educação e Psicologia of Universidade Católica Portuguesa also launched a work for professionals in this area, which resulted from a European project - PRO.VI - Protecting Victims Rights - funded by the European Commission, whose main objective is precisely to protect the rights of crime victims, through the training of specialists who work with this population.

This project, conducted by researchers Catarina Ribeiro, Mariana Barbosa, Raquel Matos and Mafalda Santos from FEP-UCP, involved 5 European countries (Italy, Spain, Romania, Germany and Portugal), and the CIG - Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality, as the main national partner in this journey.

The Practical Guide for Professionals was built by all the research partners, with the collaboration of several professionals, Crime Victims and several institutions, namely, the CIG (Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality), the APF (Association for Family Planning) APAV (Portuguese Association for Victim Support), police officers who are part of the Office of Assistance and Information to Victims (GAIV) of the Public Security Police (PSP) of Porto, the Office for Equality and Victim Support of the Municipality of Trofa and the Portuguese Red Cross.

Every year in the European Union one in seven people are victims of crime, including children and adults. Violence has a very significant impact on health and society, with huge economic costs as well. The Protection of Victims' Rights remains, without a doubt, a priority.