APAV promotes the ABC Justice Project
APAV will promote the ABC Justice project. In recognition of the shortcomings betweens the level of communication between the judiciary system and the public (namely the young people), the aim of the project is to work towards greater transparency of the Portuguese criminal justice system by informing the young masses about the main aspects of the functioning of this system.
It is intended that this information will be transmitted in a simple, clear, practical and attractive way, using presentations and web technology to more easily explain the basics of the system to large segments of the youth population.
Increasing the young people’s knowledge about the criminal justice system can make people less reluctant to report criminal behaviour, which may affect their future victim’s status, as well as to encourage more participation in judicial proceedings.
This project has the support of the Embassy of the United States of America in Lisbon through the Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund, which is a program sponsored by the U.S State Department.
APAV becomes a member of the Global Alliance against Traffic in Women (GAATW)
APAV has recently become a member of the Global Alliance against Traffic in Women (GAATW), an alliance that gathers non-governmental institutions based in different countries with the aim to monitor the incidence of human trafficking in each one and to advocate for the improvement of national and international policies and legislation in this area, giving special focus to trafficking in woman.
GAATW advocates for the incorporation of Human Rights Standards in all anti-trafficking initiatives, including in the implementation of the Trafficking Protocol, Supplementary to the UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime (2000). GAATW strives to promote and share good practices of anti-trafficking initiatives but also to critique practices and policies that are having a negative impact or are causing harm to trafficked persons, migrants, and other communities.
As a member of GAATW, APAV intends to straighten the collaboration with non-governmental institutions based in another countries, promoting the exchange of experiences and good practices, and also to disseminate relevant information about trafficking in human beings in Portugal and to inspire positive changes in this matter.
To learn more about GATTW, go to www.gaatw.org.
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) publishes its annual report
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) publishes its annual report on challenges and achievements in the field of fundamental rights in 2012. It is accompanied by the agency’s annual activity report of its activities and achievements in the same year.
The annual report provides in-depth evidence and analysis of fundamental rights developments in the European Union, its Member States and Croatia. It looks at fundamental rights‑related developments in asylum, immigration and integration; border control and visa policy; information society and data protection; the rights of the child and protection of children; equality and non‑discrimination; racism and ethnic discrimination; participation of EU citizens in the Union’s democratic functioning; access to efficient and independent justice; and rights of crime victims.
This year, the annual report has a special focus on how European values are being tested and what must be done to safeguard fundamental rights in these times of crisis. It considers the impact on the rule of law, as well as what some EU Member States are doing to ensure trust in their justice systems.
APAV featured on PICUM’s website
PICUM – Plataform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants published in its website an article written by Juliana Moya, manager of APAV’s Support Unit for Migrant Victims and Victims of Racial and Ethnical Discrimination (UAVIDRE), regarding the Portuguese law of Entry, Stay, Exit and Removal of Foreigners of the National Territory (Law nº 23/2007), that was recently modified by Law nº 29/2012.
The article goes through the legal provisions concerning the rights of undocumented migrants in Portugal, specially the ones who are victims of crime and the obstacles they face to access their rights.
To read the whole article, go to http://picum.org/en/news/blog/41568/.
Seminar Infovictims: The Right of Victims of Crime to Information | September 23rd/24th | Lisbon
One of the worst obstacles that victims of crime still face across Europe is the lack of information available to them, which may lead to a general unawareness on how to exercise their rights.
Based on this concern the Portuguese Association for Victim Support (APAV) is now developing the Project Infovictims, which aims to contribute to increase the information to victims of crime about the criminal justice system, their rights and ways to exercise them.
Within this Project, APAV will promote the Seminar Infovictims - The Right of Victims of Crime to Information, September 23rd and 24th, at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon.
The Seminar will focus on cross-cutting issues in the field of victims rights, with special emphasis on the right to information and the challenges it brings up to the judicial and police authorities, at a national and European level.
[Update: Registration closed.]