Vulnerability and Social Exclusion: The Protection of Sexually Abused Women, Children, and Teenagers
The project revolves around vulnerability and understanding the problems associated with sexual abuse of women, children, and teenagers. The aim of the project is to carry out a study, from a multidisciplinary angle, on the courses of action that can be taken from a legal standpoint in relation to said groups. It is true that vulnerable groups whose rights are violated require special protection. We are aware that a wide range of people with different characteristics are vulnerable, and this project examines the vulnerability of women and minors as silent symbols of the historical and legal social exclusion inherent in structural vulnerability. Our study will start by analysing the latest legal reforms and the way they are applied in the courts, with a view to checking to what extent they are suitable for protecting vulnerable groups and determining what changes are needed, not least as regards interpretation. When it comes to minors in particular—facing the proposed revision of the Victims’ Rights Directive, whose rules are inspired by the so-called Barnahus model, first developed in the Nordic countries but already rolled out to several other EU countries, namely Spain, and at a time when Portugal is taking its first steps in this regard by setting up a pilot project—, it is also important to ponder and draw on the lessons learnt from the current Spanish model. This project will therefore serve the dual function of achieving research results and disseminating them, while also providing the basis for future collaborations, establishing and fine-tuning routines, methodologies, and roles within our team.
Duration: January 2024 – November 2024.
PIs: Margarida Santos, Raquel Fernández González.
Team: Cristina Dias, Fernando Conde Monteiro, Rossana Martingo Cruz, Marlene Matos, Inés Iglesias Canle, María José Bravo Bosch, María del Carmen Ruiz Hidalgo, Mónica Siota Álvarez.
Funding: Funded by the Framework Collaboration Agreement signed between the University of Vigo and the University of Minho, this project has been chosen as part of the joint call for supporting research projects run by UVigo and UMinho.
Partners: University of Vigo