The Partner Organizations of the Protasis Project met in Lisbon, Portugal, on May 11, 2017, to participate to the 2nd Steering Group Meeting. The meeting took place at the School of Law of the University of Lisbon.
Mrs. Luísa Proença, Head of European Funds for Justice, Cabinet of the Secretary of State for Justice of the Portuguese Republic, attended the meeting and delivered the welcome address. Mrs. Proença noted the importance of the Project and stressed the fact that it will make a significant contribution to promote justice and the effective support of victims through its holistic approach. Mrs. Proença mentioned that the Portuguese Justice Department will be looking forward to the results of the Project and will collaborate with the Portuguese partners to identify appropriate ways to promote the Training Material developed by the Project.
Following the 1st Steering Group Meeting held in London in January 2017, the Partners discussed the progress of the Project over the past five months and the planning of the next activities and deliverables.The meeting focused on the finalization of the Training Material and the upcoming organization of the Training Seminars in Greece, Italy and Portugal. In this regard, Prof. Artinopoulou emphasized that the key feature of the Protasis Project is the use of evidence-based Training Materials in order to produce valuable and sustainable results.
Moreover, the consortium discussed the development of the National Catalogues of Victims’ Support Services. The Catalogues include comprehensive and updated information on all available Support Services for Victims in Greece, Italy and Portugal, and will constitute a critical resource for Police Officers in each country to refer and signpost victims to the appropriate services according to their specific needs. The Catalogues will be soon published on the Protasis Project website.
The meeting also marks the beginning of the next phase of the Project, during which more than 200 Police Officers in Greece, Italy and Portugal will receive extensive training on how to better protect and support victims. The Training Seminars will cover issues such as the EU Victims’ Directive 2012/29/EU, victim’s needs and their individual assessment, victims of crime gender- and child-specific issues, communication skills for sensitive and respectful interaction with victims of violence, as well as information on signposting and referral of victims.
Panel (from right to left): Mrs. Luísa Proença, Prof. Vasso Artinopoulou and Mr. Andrea De Maio
