‘Targeted village approach to violence against women works’

Fight violence against women in a targeted way. A targeted approach like this is now being used in several towns and it is working, say administrators and care providers who are involved in this. This week, more than 250 cities are drawing attention to the issue, thanks to the global campaign Orange of the world.

For example, Mayor Huri Sahin from Rijswijk took action shortly after the first murder of a woman in her city, when she received an email from someone who was threatened by her ex-husband. “I helped her and later asked women to come forward if they could not find a solution through help groups,” said Sahin. She received over 60 responses.

“Women have to deal with many authorities and, for example, they need an emergency button,” she says. With such a box, emergency assistance can be called with the touch of a button. “As mayor, I try to speed up the process by bringing everyone involved to the table and implementing concrete actions faster, and then suddenly it works.”

At Filomena in Rotterdam they are also committed to combating domestic violence against women. The center was opened five years ago to help victims of serious violence better and faster, partly in response to the controversial incident Humeyra’s murder.

“People can contact us in an accessible way without registering,” said manager Tanya Hoogwerf. Although the help group is open to men and children as well, it is mostly women who come there. But we work with everyone involved in a family so we see others too. If we leave the person who did the violence out of it, the risk of it coming back is greater.”

The center works with the police, forensic doctors and lawyers, allowing faster responses. “Clients don’t have to run from pillar to post with us, appropriate help is immediately available,” says Hoogwerf.

At the same time, Rotterdam is one of the places with many reports of domestic violence; in the first half of this year, more than 4,000. “It concerns a metropolitan area. There may be a number of reasons, such as financial and relationship problems, or substance use. At the same time, domestic violence affects all levels of the population.”

There is also a high number of reports in Almere. “Almere is growing fast. Fast growth leads to neighbors where people don’t know each other that well,” said councilor Froukje de Jonge, who has been working on the subject for some time. “With a more limited social network, a victim is less likely to raise the alarm and it is harder for those around them to see the signs of domestic violence.”

“We have to look mainly at preventing violence. For example, I focus on early detection of violence, for example in relation to intimate terror.” This type of violence can range from isolating and humiliating the partner to extreme physical and sexual violence. “We train all parties involved to recognize this in time and act accordingly.”

Earlier this year the Stop Femicide plan! presented to the House of Representatives. Part of that plan is for professionals to recognize the signs of violence earlier. “It’s a good report, but without additional resources and capacity in towns this will not get off the ground. We need to make room for him,” said Mayor Sahin van Rijswijk.

According to her, changes in the law are also needed so that they can punish perpetrators of violence more quickly. Two weeks ago this was discussed in a parliamentary debate on femicide. The Secretary of State Coenradie of Justice then said bill criminalize mental violence. She also responded positively to D66 and VVD’s proposal to establish an “accessible reporting point” for reports of women at risk of being killed.

Either way, Sahin remains committed to her community, as does De Jonge. “We have to take the numbers seriously. And more importantly, we have to do everything we can to fight any kind of violence.”