National Plan of Action
The Council of Europe Campaign served as one of important catalysts to attract increased stakeholders’ attention to the issue of domestic violence and helped it to attain an important place on the public and political agendas. This, in turn, early in 2007 facilitated an inquiry into various aspects of the issue by the Parliament’s Human Rights and Public Affairs Committee. The inquiry resulted in a call to the Cabinet of Ministers to address the issue seriously and urgently. Following the established policy-making procedure in Latvia, the Cabinet of Ministers summoned an informative report. This report served as a basis for the Cabinet of Ministers Order of 5 June 2007 requiring the Ministry for Child and Family Affairs in cooperation with Ministry of Welfare, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of the Interior to submit a draft of a State program (the equivalent of a National Plan of Action) for Prevention and Harm Reduction of Domestic Violence by February 2008. At the time of this report project of the State program is being reviewed by the Cabinet of Ministers. The proposed duration of the State program is from 2008 to 2011.
In line with the Blueprint of the Council of Europe Campaign to Combat Domestic Violence against Women, including Domestic Violence, the State program will address the following questions:
- Legal and policy measures. In 2008 and 2009 in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of the Interior and Office of the Prosecutor General the existing legal framework will be evaluated to identify a possible need for amendments of new legal acts.
- Support and protection for victims. In 2009 a state funded rehabilitation will be available to adult victims of domestic violence (currently adult victims of domestic violence are usually accepted in shelters when accompanying children). This program will include subsidized legal assistance. In 2010 a state-funded rehabilitation will be implemented for perpetrators. Educational and information activities for various specialist will continue, especially, for social workers, teachers, employees of family support and crisis centres. In 2010 training programmes for judges, prosecutors and healthcare personnel will be implemented.
- Data collection. The State program includes several activities to gather information about the problem. The include both collection of statistical data and qualitative research.
- Identification of domestic violence. In March 2008 Recommendation Rec(2002)5 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on the protection of women against violence was translated and will be distributed. By July 2008 the Council of Europe report “Combating violence against women. Stocktaking study on the measures and actions taken in the Council of Europe member States” and the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women will be translated and disseminated. These documents will be publicly available on the Ministry for Child and Family Affairs website.
As it was indicated in the mid-term report on Campaign implementation by Latvia, violence against women is not addressed separately from domestic violence. While the focus is always on the individual, it is widely accepted that domestic violence has broader social implications and affects other persons besides the victim and the perpetrator. Hence, the State program defines domestic violence as a violent act (physical, sexual, emotional) among currently or previously co-habiting adult persons, independent of whether they are (or are not) in wedlock or share a common domicile. It is also underlined that children are a particularly vulnerable group since they often witness domestic violence are victims of it.
Assessment of the impact of the Council of Europe Campaign
If the Council of Europe Recommendation Rec(2002)5 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on the protection of women against violence is taken as a baseline, then women are not protected against every act of psychological violence. However, women enjoy a high level of protection against acts of physical and sexual violence, and some acts of psychological violence. Legislation specifically prohibits and penalizes such acts of violence as violence occurring in the family or domestic unit, rape and sexual abuse, incest, sexual harassment and intimidation at work, trafficking in women (the list is not exhaustive).
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2. Is violence committed by a partner or former partner punished more severely than violence among strangers (eg. gender based violence as such or the abuse of power will be considered an aggravating circumstance)?
Domestic violence is punished at least to the same extent as violence among strangers or more severely. Legislation provides the possibility to consider domestic violence as an aggravating circumstance that can serve as basis to initiate a public prosecution process. However, an instance of domestic violence does not automatically trigger the use of this legal clause, as is confirmed by women’s rights NGOs analysis of court decisions in cases of domestic violence.
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3. Are victims enabled to seek justice in a human manner (eg. specialised courts on domestic violence, specialised units within the police, the public prosecutor or the judiciary)?
While legislation provides a possibility to initiate a public prosecution in cases of domestic violence and victims can be relieved of court taxes upon request (based on income-test), these are not specifically related to domestic violence. Since January 2006 the Ministry of Justice Legal Assistance Administration provides subsidizes legal services to various disadvantaged groups and financial compensations for victims of serious crimes, yet these also are general provisions.
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4. Does a national emergency 24/7 help-line exist free of charge for victims of domestic violence in your country?
While a national emergency help-line for victims of domestic violence does not exist, reports on domestic violence can be reported to the national general help-line “02” or “112” 24 hours a daily.
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5. Have safe shelters been set up for victims of domestic violence in an adequate ratio in your member state? 1
There were 2.27 million of inhabitants in Latvia in January 2008. Hence, an adequate number of places in a shelter would be marginally over 300.
Latvia had 6 specialised social rehabilitation institutions (shelters) funded from the State budget for victims of domestic violence in 2008 (the number fluctuates from 4 to 8 yearly). In 2007, 171 persons (most of them women) were placed in State funded shelters. Additionally, there are around 70 institutions (run by municipalities or NGOs), offering various services, including temporary domicile, to victims of domestic violence. The number of places in all the mentioned institutions considerably exceeds 300.
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6. Is administrative data being collected on victims of domestic violence?
Ministry of Welfare Social Service Board; Ministry of Health Health Statistics and Medical Technologies State Agency; State Police; Municipal Police. However, no centralized data collection system exists and at the moment it is not possible to compare the data collected by the various institutions.
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7. Is domestic violence considered as a human rights violation to be addressed in your legal system?
YES x NO q
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