málaga
The Junta-run helpline offers assistance to victims of domestic abuse in 51 different languages
04.05.11 - 10:31 -
Launch. Members of Soroptimists International and the I.A.M. / G.P
This week the Costa del Sol branch of Soroptimist International, in collaboration with the Andalusian Women’s Institute in Malaga (I.A.M), launched an awareness campaign, aimed at foreign residents, of a free telephone number which assists victims of domestic violence.
“Soroptimist International is a Non-Governmental Organisation of professional women with some 90,000 members worldwide. Our aim is to advance the human rights and status of women,” explains the association’s, Lene Thygesen. “Very often when we give talks locally, foreign women who are suffering from domestic abuse ask us if there is any services to help them. I tell them there’s a telephone number that they can call which offers advice and help, but we’ve found that most of them had never heard of it; that’s why we’re launching this campaign directed at the British, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, German, Dutch and French-speaking communities.”
Long-time member of Soroptmists International and founder of the Mijas Foreign Residents Department, Anette Skou, says that it is not surprising that many foreign women do not know the helpline exists: “Up until now, the service has only been actively promoted in the Spanish media, even though the service is available in 51 different languages. Foreigners, generally, don’t read Spanish newspapers and they get their news and information from the likes of SUR in English. This is why we’re extremely grateful to this newspaper, amongst others, for helping us get the message out there.
“In Mijas, for example, 42 per cent of the population are foreigners, and there are many other municipalities with high numbers of foreign residents too, so it is easy to see how important it is that our message reaches this sector of society,” she explained.
The operators of the Andalusian Women’s Institute in Malaga attended 7,183 calls in 2010, the director, Carmen Rosa Torres, confirmed at Tuesday's press conference. “Of those, more than 1,500 were from non-Spanish nationals. After Spanish, Arabic is the language most often spoken by our callers, followed by English and Romanian,” she added.
Isabel Méndez, who oversees the telephone service says these calls are a three-way, confidential conversation between the victim of domestic abuse, the operator, and the translator.
The president of Soroptimist International on the Costa del Sol, Jette Overgaard, believes domestic violence amongst foreign residents is worryingly high. “Living in Spain and not speaking Spanish and not knowing the various bureaucratic systems, such as when to pay a bill, can be very stressful; and sometimes, we have seen that this extra pressure can manifest itself into abuse, which is totally unacceptable,” she says.
“Although the economic situation has worsened the problem as people become more pressurised, domestic violence is a social phenomenon which cuts across nationality, class and income.”
The 24 hour, free, multilingual, domestic abuse helpline number is 900 200 999.
