Brazil extends toll-free phone service to help battered women

Brazil extends toll-free phone service to help battered women
The Brazilian government on Friday announced that it would extend its nationwide toll-free phone service to help Brazilian women living abroad.

The move was adopted to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

The service aimed at helping Brazilian women who were abused by spouses or other relatives, who were kidnapped and forced into prostitution and who were under the control of criminals, said the government.

The Brazilian government would inform their consulates about the women's situations upon receiving their calls, and the consulates would then work with the local authorities to help those women.

The service will first be set up in Spain, Portugal and Italy, where a great number of Brazilian females reside, and then extended to other countries in Europe and in the Americas, said Brazil's special minister for women's policies Iriny Lopes.

The toll-free service base is located in Brazil and works 24/7. In Brazil, calls are completely free of charge and women are not required to identify themselves.

This service was launched in 2006 in Brazil and has worked well, increasing reports of domestic violence in the country.

Two million women used the service in the past five years, which was about 130 calls per day. In the first ten months of 2011, the service received 530,000 calls.

Besides the service, Brazil has Maria da Penha Law, named after a victim of domestic abuse, to protect women against domestic violence.

Editor: Yamei Wang

English.news.cn   2011-11-26 10:36:35 FeedbackPrintRSS
RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 25 (Xinhua)