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In the capital there are currently 4,113 battered women watched by the Police. With the state of alarm and the measures of confinement, the agents have increased the measures to care remotely for these victims of male violence . Specifically, the calls of the municipal police officers have been multiplied by three to prevent new attacks, according to Marta Fernández, mayor of the Unit for the Support and Protection of Women, Minors and Elders of the Madrid Municipal Police. " We have gone from taking 300 preventive actions from March 14 to April 14 to taking a thousand preventive actions," emphasizes Fernández.

Communications with battered women are undertaken by telephone and telematically due to the isolation of the population. Before confinement, the Municipal Police Unit regularly visited victims in their own homes. «When we were with them at home and in the environment in which they live, many more risk indicators can be perceived than when you do it by phone. What we do not discover in person now we have to do with the contacts with the victims that we have assigned and, therefore, these prevention measures have increased, "Fernández remarks.

At the moment, the new cases of male violence registered have not risen, but that does not mean, according to the Municipal Police, that gender violence has decreased. " Male violence is still latent within the homes, but in a contained way, and I say contained because the victim has assumed a capacity for total and extreme submission and absolute compliance with all the demands of the aggressor," explains the mayor of Police .

The experience of the agents allows them to conclude that the "explosion of violence takes longer to emerge, since the victim is confined at home." « The aggressor is not jealous because the victim is not related to anyone. The abuser no longer reproaches you for what clothes you wear because you are in your pajamas. Their demands for self-control and possession are met, "describes the police command.

This diagnosis of the situation means that women are now more submissive to the threats of the aggressor and have a much harder time facing the situation and reporting that they are victims of violence. "Confinement makes it difficult for women to take the complaint step and, sometimes, may tend to minimize the problem," says Fernández.

In addition to telephone contacts, the Municipal Police has established two specific protocols for officers in the area of ​​male violence. All the operators of the central station of 092 have been indicated to be sensitive in the calls of neighbors in case they appreciate any indirect indicator that can help them to know if there is an episode of male violence in a home. "When our agents receive any call from a neighbor saying that there are noises or disturbances, we want them to inquire and be interested if there are screams, broken glass or phrases like 'please stop' and, in that case, a patrol is sent urgently », he remarks.

The second protocol is a joint action between the Municipal Police, the City Council's welfare services and social workers. "It is about detecting situations of violence when women go to non-specific mistreatment services," says the police. Lastly, Fernández recalls that every woman who is living with her aggressor is not obliged to endure the situation of violence in confinement and that she can go to any emergency center.

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  • Gender violence
  • Violence
  • Machismo
  • Coronavirus
  • Covid 19
  • Madrid

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