About a hundred items, including toys, backpacks, balls, children’s clothes and “strips with strong messages” were placed this Sunday night at the main entrance of the Braga Court in protest against the enforcement measures applied to a 44-year-old man who was caught red-handed raping his 15-year-old daughter during the confinement period, last Sunday, May 3.
This action, carried out by the Associação Mulheres de Braga, aims to raise awareness not only of the judges but of the entire civil society for a “cultural machismo” that will exist in the Minho region, in the words of Emília Santos, president and one of the founders of the women’s collective .
Photo: Paulo Jorge Magalhães / O MINHO
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Speaking to O MINHO, the official admits that it is also a way to pressure and “make noise” so that the appeals left to justice in relation to sexual assaults, deaths and psychological and physical assaults that many women are subjected to, often by those who is close, be heard.
“It is very strange that the judge left the aggressor free with measures of distancing and the prohibition of contact with his daughter [ficou ainda com pulseira eletrónica], when he was caught in the act by the victim’s mother during a sexual assault ”, he denounces.
Photo: Paulo Jorge Magalhães / O MINHO
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Emília, together with other members of the group, will become an assistant in this process during this week to monitor the performance of the justice in this particular case and understand the reason for the court’s decision. “We leave an appeal through our private group, which has about 8 thousand women – and many joined, bringing objects to participate in this action”, he explains.
Valentina remembered
The official also points to a stripe in memory of little Valentina, the 9-year-old girl, whose body was found today in Peniche, allegedly after being murdered by her father in collusion with her stepmother. Both were arrested by the Judiciary Police but only tomorrow will they be brought to court: “I hope that justice will not be lenient again and it will not be others who will be released”.
Photo: Paulo Jorge Magalhães / O MINHO
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The women’s collective was founded in 2019 after Gabriela Monteiro, an employee at Theatro Circo, having been stabbed to death by her ex-partner, in front of the same place where the protest is now taking place.
In addition to the group on social media for direct contact with all women, They also have a Facebook “Also open to men”, to publicize the actions they carry out.
The Associação Mulheres de Braga has been supporting victims of domestic violence “24 hours a day”, but “it hasn’t been easy”, especially due to the lack of physical space for the body, something that has been “very difficult” to achieve.
Photo: Paulo Jorge Magalhães / O MINHO
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Photo: Paulo Jorge Magalhães / O MINHO
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Photo: Paulo Jorge Magalhães / O MINHO
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Photo: Paulo Jorge Magalhães / O MINHO
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Photo: Paulo Jorge Magalhães / O MINHO
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Photo: Paulo Jorge Magalhães / O MINHO
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Looking for a space to welcome victims who cannot stay at home
“We have already had three meetings with the Braga Chamber and this week we met with Ricardo Rio, who was available to help pay half the rent but cannot give us any space,” he says. Some parish councils have also been contacted but the solutions offered do not address the victims’ needs.
“The spaces that are available to us close at 17:00, and the violence has no time, many of the requests for help that come to us are at the weekend and at night, so it does not make sense to have a space that closes after a normal opening time. work ”, he warns.
Although it is a problem that cuts across the country, Emília has no doubts in pointing out the Minho region as being very “problematic” for women, especially “for cultural reasons”.
Photo: Paulo Jorge Magalhães / O MINHO
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Photo: Paulo Jorge Magalhães / O MINHO
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“Cultural machismo” in Minho
“Alcohol and drugs motivate many aggressions, but I believe that the biggest problem of all is cultural, cultural machismo, where even women themselves are the first to criticize other women, saying things like you got the hang of it“, Denounces.
Another of the problems pointed out is the police support: “in Braga, there are only two or three PSP agents specialized in these issues, but they all work only until 5:00 pm and when we called the police station after that time, we are often ignored” .
“At night, there is no one to protect us and this has to end, we needed more police officers on our side”, he stresses.
Altogether, there are 24 women actively working in the association. In addition to legal and emotional support, they also provide support through food, especially since the pandemic began.
“Many women had precarious jobs and are now at home, without possessions, and we have helped with that”. But the lack of the aforementioned physical space has limited this help.
Until they reach this purpose, Emília uses her own home as a meeting point to receive and distribute goods, “but this is not how it should work”.
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