Project Hymenaeus – improving legal response and access to the law for victims of domestic violence (initiative FBR_OC2_24_Universidade Católica Portuguesa) comes to an end, with the hearing of the researchers involved, in the Portuguese Parliament, on the suggestions for legislative changes resulting from the study developed within the scope of this project.
The team of researchers from the Hymenaeus Project of the Porto School of the Faculty of Law from UCP, led by Professor Elisabete Ferreira, went to the Portuguese Parliament on October 10th to be heard by the Subcommittee for Equality and Non-Discrimination.
The hearing’s subject was the presentation of suggestions for legal changes regarding domestic violence, as a result of the research carried out within the scope of Project Hymenaeus. Among the suggested changes is the amendment of article 152 of the Penal Code to include, within the scope of legal protection, all ancestors, and descendants of the aggressor, regardless of cohabitation, or the need of assessment of their special vulnerability. The Project team also drew attention to the need to alter the regime of inhibition of the exercise of parental responsibilities, provided for in article 152, no. 6, in the sense of allowing it to be withdrawn, if the underlying cause for the inhibition, in the meanwhile, ceases to exist. The team also argued in favour of the elimination of the possibility of suspending the execution of the prison sentence, in the case of conviction for the crime of domestic violence and sustained the need to rethink the provisional suspension of the process in such cases.
"Today represents the culmination of a year and a half of academic research that we have now made available to the community, fulfilling the essence of the Universidade Católica’ s mission: research at the service of society", stated the coordinator at the hearing.
The Hymenaeus Project, financed by the EEA Grants Bilateral Relations Fund, began on April 1st, 2023, and ended on October 31, 2024. It was an initiative of the Porto School of the Faculty of Law of the Portuguese Catholic University, in collaboration with the Faculty of Law of the University of Bergen, Norway.
The Hymenaeus Project developed a comparative study of the legislation in force in Portugal and Norway, in domestic violence, with the aim of improving the legal response, especially in the criminal domain, to this social problem, aiming to propose legislative and public policy changes to the competent authorities. A second aspect of this project aimed to improve access to information for victims of domestic violence, by raising awareness among professionals and entities that work with them of the need to simplify language. The goal is that the meaning of technical-legal terms can be effectively understood by victims, allowing them to fully exercise their rights during criminal proceedings for domestic violence.
The conclusions of this Project are available in ebook.
The full hearing in the Assembly of the Republic can be consulted here.