After an agreement between the Prosecutor’s Office, INAU, the Faculty of Psychology and Unicef, a document was prepared with guidelines to develop protocols to address the situation of children of victims of femicide. The president of INAU, Pablo Abdala, recognized the need for a comprehensive approach with actions to mitigate the impact of these events and stressed that the work was carried out based on testimonies of victims.
This October 19, the document “Impact of femicide on mental health and life trajectory in children and adolescents” was presented. The president of the Institute for Children and Adolescents of Uruguay (INAU), Pablo Abdala, participated in the activity; the Attorney General of the Nation, Juan Gómez; the Dean of the Faculty of Psychology at Udelar, Enrico Irrazábal, and the representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Michel Guinand.
The work was carried out within the framework of an agreement, signed in 2021, between the Prosecutor’s Office, INAU, the Faculty of Psychology and Unicef regarding the need to deepen knowledge about the situation of children of women victims of femicide and develop protocols that allow them to give you an adequate answer.
The final document was prepared based on the testimonies of the victims, from which a series of recommendations were compiled related to the impact that family violence generates in children and how to proceed from the institutions in the face of episodes of femicide.
The suggestions include topics such as comprehensive assistance to minors and the family, and, in particular, to new caregivers. Efforts are also being made to improve care in the interior of the country, where deficiencies are more evident than in the metropolitan area.
Abdala said that violence against children is growing steadily. In 2021 there were 7,035 cases attended by the Comprehensive System for the Protection of Children and Adolescents against Violence (Sipiav), and this year that figure will be greatly exceeded, since in June there were 6,000 registered. In addition, there is underreporting because not all cases are reported.
He explained that children and adolescents who survive the death of their mother in a crime require very special support in the traumatic moment and then in repairing the damage.
The hierarch acknowledged that in some cases they end up institutionalized in INAU centers, but in others, the children are left in charge of adult references who assume their custody. In both situations, it is necessary that the system accompany them.
He added that it is essential to extend these recommendations to educational institutions and INAU trainers, who are the ones who care for these children.
Mizrahi, meanwhile, mentioned that this alliance with the Prosecutor’s Office and the University of the Republic makes it possible to make visible what happens to minors when a femicide occurs and recalled that these crimes occur in the home, at any time, so It is essential to have technicians who support, together with the Victims Unit of the Prosecutor’s Office, in immediate care and long-term damage repair.
He indicated that the families that receive the children should also be accompanied, both from the psychological point of view and from the point of view of resources.
According to the data provided by the hierarch, in the last semester there were 19 femicides and 8 children killed in these circumstances, which denotes situations of structural violence.
