The first specialized center for victims of sexual violence in the Czech Republic is being established in Prague, followed by others – ČT24 – Česká televize
According to the latest report of the European Network against Violence WAWE, services for victims of sexual violence are not available in the Czech Republic. The help center and the cross line are missing. This is also mentioned in the new national ten-year gender equality strategy approved by the government. This document envisages the establishment of cross-line and enlightenment services in four major cities.
“We do not have a center for victims of rape and sexual violence in our country yet. In Belgium and Denmark, for example, there is such a center in every region. Next year, five new centers for victims of various forms of violence against women should be established, “said Šafařík.
At the center, the victims will receive crisis assistance
There will be a specialized center for victims of sexual violence in Prague 6, Břevnov. It will be run by the proFem organization. He is now working with architects to design the space. Then the project part will be created, followed by reconstruction. According to Jitka Poláky, the organization’s director, the facility should start operating next year in September or October.
At the center, the victims will receive crisis assistance. There will be crisis beds, psychotherapy, social and legal counseling. It will be possible to take samples for possible evidentiary proceedings and mediation of a law firm. There will be a room where the police can possibly be interrogated.
The money for the center for victims of sexual violence and four other facilities was provided by so-called Norwegian funds. According to Vlastimil Vaňek from the Ministry of Finance, the total amount is 51.6 million crowns. In addition to the Břevnov facility, the Rosalin Crisis Assistance Center, the Agáta Charity Center in České Budějovice, the Charity Center for Victims of Domestic Violence in Most and the Women’s Rights Center of the League of Human Rights in Ostrava and Brno will be established or expanded.
Every third woman and every fourteenth man has experienced domestic violence in the Czech Republic
According to Šafařík, surveys show that every third woman and every fourteenth man has experienced domestic violence in the Czech Republic. In more than half of the cases, there are also children. About one percent of women have experienced violence in the past year, the head of the government’s gender equality department said. “In terms of numbers, there are forty thousand women every year,” Šafařík said. Only a fraction of the victims turn to the police.
The problem of sexual violence has recently attracted the attention of the case of the TOP 09 exhibitor Dominik Feri or the psychiatrist Jan Cimický, about whom the media reported. The victims began to report.