Lisbon, Dec. 22, 2024 (Lusa) - Only 13% of domestic violence allegations made in Portugal in 2023 actually resulted in convictions, according to the statistical bulletin "Gender Equality in Portugal".
According to the statistical information on the situation of women and men in Portugal in various areas of life in society, released on Friday, in 2023 there were 30,461 incidents of domestic violence, of which only 4,141 resulted in convictions of the aggressors, which "is minimal".
In fact, the number of convictions in the courts of first instance hasn't changed much since 2015, when there were 3,898, with the highest being in 2021 (4,275).
The "overwhelming majority of victims of domestic violence" are women (seven out of ten in 2023) and "the vast majority" of people denounced and convicted are men (eight out of ten in 2023), emphasise the data, which also reveals that "there is often a degree of kinship" between victims and aggressors.
With data updated up to 20 November this year, the bulletin, produced by the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (CIG), shows that gender-based violence "continues to disproportionately affect women".
The number of actual arrests for offences against sexual freedom and self-determination, the overwhelming majority of which were carried out by men, is also minimal, according to the official data.
With regard to education, while on the one hand girls are not as likely to drop out of school early and are more likely to complete higher education, on the other hand "there continues to be a strong segregation of educational choices", with girls being the majority in education, health and social protection courses.
The statistic specifically warns of the gap between women and men in the digital area, both educationally and in the labour market, which translates into "gaps in innovation and in the future of the entire digital and knowledge economy".
At work, the employment rate for women continues to be lower than for men, although above the European Union average, and unemployment also affects women more.
Another statistic reveals that the majority of people who work full-time are men and the majority of people who work part-time are women, a situation which, along with others, will result in lower pensions, leaving "older women particularly more exposed to the risk of poverty".
The poverty rate for women is higher than for men and in practically all age groups the at-risk-of-poverty rate is higher for women.
In addition, despite being better educated, women earn less than men and work in less well-paid professions.
"It should be noted that the more skilled and qualified women are, the less they earn compared to men," the bulletin warns.
At the same time, women are still in the minority in positions of power and decision-making and unpaid work (domestic chores and caring for offspring and relatives) is still carried out almost exclusively by women.
The bulletin highlights the "constant positive evolution" of the presence of women on the boards of directors of the largest companies listed on the stock market and "a significant evolution in the feminisation rate of boards of directors", from 13.5% in 2015 to 34.9% in 2023.
In terms of the population, we learnt that in 2023 it would be mostly made up of women, with a fertility rate below the generation replacement threshold and the postponement of parenthood.
"In Portugal, both women and men have fewer children than they would like to have," concludes the bulletin.
The official statistics also point out the "growing trend in same-sex marriages" (1,009 in 2023), as well as the change of sex in the civil register and consequent change of first name (522 in 2023).
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