DF: Reports of violence against women are increasing.

Beatriz Ferrari, from Agência Brasília - Reports of cases of violence against women in the Federal District increased by 12,1% from 2012 to 2013, reaching 14.731, according to data released this Tuesday (14) by the DF Public Security Secretariat. This expected result reveals that women are more aware and confident in making reports.

In 2013, only five of the 31 administrative regions registered a decrease in complaints: Taguatinga, Sobradinho, Varjão do Torto, Cruzeiro, and SIA. The largest share of the total index was recorded in Ceilândia (15,7%), with 2.315 cases.

"This number is positive insofar as it reveals that women are feeling safer and reporting more, even though we know that the number of reports is lower than the number of cases," said the Secretary for Women of the Federal District, Olgamir Amância.

Regarding the nature of the reported crimes, threats appear in first place (62,9%), followed by insults (52,1%) and bodily harm (31,5%).

"Women have come to understand that violence is not just physical. They have come to understand that threats are also a crime. The concept of violence against women is very broad, and we are working on clarifying it," the secretary added.

According to Ana Cristina Santiago, the delegate of the Special Police Station for Women's Assistance (DEAM), the significant proportion of threats among the total number of complaints reveals that men have also become aware that bodily harm is a serious crime, and shows that women have more confidence in the work of public agencies. "Insult is a form of moral violence, and until recently people didn't understand it that way," she said.

The data shows that the highest incidence of crime occurs between 18 PM and midnight (more than 20%) and on weekends, reaching 22,1% on Sundays.

APPOINTMENTS - The network for protecting women in the Federal District begins with the 24-hour Women's Police Station and the local police stations, all with specific sections for serving the female public, and extends to the support units of the Women's Secretariat, the Public Defender's Office, the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Federal District and Territories, and the Judiciary.

In addition to the Women's Human Rights Hotline (156, option 6), a telephone number used to report abuse, the GDF (Government of the Federal District), through the Women's Secretariat, maintains the Shelter Home, which houses women threatened with death by their abusers; the Specialized Centers for Women's Assistance (Ceam), which offer legal, psychological, and social assistance; the Women's Bus, which serves victims of violence in rural areas; and the Family and Perpetrator of Violence Assistance Centers (Nafavad), which seek to re-educate abusers.

Last year, the Joint Parliamentary Inquiry Commission (CPMI) of the National Congress, which investigated violence against women in Brazil, considered the Federal District the best-equipped state to serve the female public.