"A Portuguese judge has triggered a row over sexism by suggesting that an abused women deserved to be punished because she had committed adultery.

Back in 2015, the victim was lured into a hostage situation by her former lover on the premise he wanted to reconcile their affair. But when she was in his clutches, he then called her ex-husband to confront her. The pair then beat up the woman, using a studded hammer to inflict blows.

Both men received a suspended sentence last week and it’s now emerged an appeal judge said this when considering the initial verdict:

“A woman’s adultery is a very serious attack on the honor and dignity of a man. Societies exist where an adulterous woman is stoned to death. 
In the Bible, we can read that the adulterous woman should be punished by death. Not long ago the criminal law (Penal Code of 1886, article 372º) punished, with little more than a symbolic penalty, the man who, on finding his adulterous wife, killed her.”

Rights groups have widely criticised the ruling as evidence of widespread patriarchal and sexist attitudes in Portugal.

Frederico Moyano Marques from the Portuguese Association for Victim Support (APAV) told euronews: “Public and private organisations working in this area have invested heavily in order to make society itself less and less tolerant of this type of behaviour. Therefore, the same State that has made this very big investment, the same society that has made that investment, can not give the wrong or opposite sign. We are not talking about a citizen who, over a coffee table, makes these kind of statements. We are talking about the exercise of a jurisdictional power, an organ of sovereignty with all its impact.”

Other women’s rights groups have called for the judge to be disbarred, They say although such lenient sentences aren’t common, this is not an isolated case."

Source: Euronews

The Brazilian Delegation of the National Council of Public Prosecutions (CNMP) visited APAV on the 22nd of September, under the Sectoral Dialogue Program, promoted by CNMP and the European Union, which is logistically supported by APAV.

This visit expected to identify agencies and administrative structures to support women victims of crime as well as to announce the functioning of protocols with the public security organs. It started with a meeting where APAV presented its services to victims of crime and continued with a visit to the Victim Support Office of Lisbon and the Victim Support Line.

Victim Support Europe promoted the first edition of the Winter School on Supporting Victims of Terrorism. The event took place on the November 20-22 in Brussels and was attended by participants from many VSE member organizations: France Victimes, V-Europe, Slachtofferhulp Nederland, Offerrådgivningen i Danmark, Steunpunt Algemeen Welzijnswerk, Weisser Ring, Victim Support Russia and NATAL. APAV was represented by Bruno Brito, manager of RAFAVH - Support Network for Relatives and Friends of Victims of Homicide. 

On the 26^th of September APAV received the visit of the Australian Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement, at APAV Lisbon Headquarters. The delegation was composed of five members of Parliamentary Committee, complemented by two members of the Embassy: Mr. Craig Kelly, Member of Parliament (Chair), Senator the Hon Lisa Singh (Deputy Chair), Senator David Bushby, Senator Skye Kakoschke-Moore, Ms. Sophie Dunstone (Committee Secretary and Delegation Secretary), Mr. John Fisher, Deputy Head of Mission and First Secretary of Consul e Mr. Christian Hermansson, Political and Economic Advisor of Australian Embassy.