Of these, 4,657 correspond to calls received (3.4% less than the previous year), which represents an average of almost 13 calls per day.

Last year, the service made 539 face-to-face accompaniments, with a decrease of half a point compared to 2022.

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IBDONA’s 24-hour service handled 5,877 communications from women victims of gender-based violence during 2023

Last year, the Balearic Institute for Women (IBDONA) attended 5,877 communications from women victims of gender violence, which represents a slight decrease of 0.3% compared to 2022. According to typology, there were 4,657 calls attended (3.4 % less than in 2022), 987 follow-ups (7.8 % more), 162 communications by WhatsApp (78 % more than in 2022 but only 14.9 % more than in 2021) and 71 legal orientations. This service, the legal one, came into operation in May 2023.

The Councilor for Families and Social Affairs, Catalina Cirer, and the director of IBDONA, Cati Salom, presented this Monday at a press conference the data corresponding to the 2023 report of the 24-hour social care and telephone accompaniment service and the face-to-face accompaniment service of IBDONA to women victims of gender violence in the Balearic Islands.

The councilor stressed that “these data show how necessary this service is to support women victims of any kind of gender violence and show us all the work we still have to do in the areas of prevention and education”.

One third of the calls received occurred in summer.

The greatest thickness of communications were the calls attended. There were 4,657, of which 2,794 were made directly by the victim, 550 by the victim’s entourage and 836 by a professional. Of the total, 2,062 were urgent, which corresponds to 44.3%. This is almost the same percentage as in 2022, when urgent calls accounted for 45.1%.

As for the originating telephone number, 1,561 callers called the 24-hour service directly, representing 33.5 % of the total number of calls received. In 2023, in addition, referrals to health services were made.

By islands, 79.3 % of the calls were made in Mallorca, 5.6 % in Menorca, 11.8 % in Ibiza and 0.5 % in Formentera. By municipalities, where more calls were registered was in Palma, with 2,343, practically half of all those that occurred in the community. It is followed by Eivissa, with 265; Manacor, with 243, and Calvià, with 152. In Menorca, Maó heads the list, with 112 calls.

The majority of the people attended during 2023 were women between 31 and 40 years old (923) and residents (3,764).

In terms of the group attended, 3,561 calls were for gender violence and 261 for sexual violence, which refers to sexual aggressions suffered outside the couple. According to the report, last year there was a significant increase in these cases, of 40.3 %, with 75 women attended for sexual violence more than in 2022.

By months, 29 % of the calls were in June, July and August, and the month with the most calls was August, with 471. Most of the calls occurred between 16.00 and 17.00 hours and on weekdays and had an average duration of 10 minutes.

539 accompaniments

In the year as a whole, 539 face-to-face accompaniments were made, 0.5% less than in the previous year. Although the service received 769 requests for accompaniment, 133 were cancelled for reasons beyond our control, and 97 could not be carried out for reasons of concurrence and lack of available techniques. For this reason, the new contract has already been awarded, which incorporates four more technicians to cover the service: in Mallorca, Menorca and the Pitiusas, and a legal expert.

Salom considers that “these data show that the accompaniment has to be strengthened with the incorporation of more technicians, and thus respond to the needs of the victims. No woman can be left unattended”, said Salom, “no woman can be left unattended”.

As regards the profile of the accompanied victim, 37.4% of the women had suffered violence between one and five years, and 27.8% had suffered violence for less than a year. A very significant fact is that 86 women had waited up to ten years to ask for help (15.9%).

In addition, 31.5 % of the women accompanied were living with the aggressor at the time of the accompaniment, compared with 66.6 % of the women who were no longer living with him.

Of the women who were accompanied, 31.1% did not have children with the aggressor compared to 42.6% who did. These children are also victims of this violence, which is why the care process is also aimed at them. In addition, 5.9% of the women accompanied had a disability.

23.9 % of the accompaniments were urgent (within 24 hours of the request), and 30 % were immediate (at the same time of the request). The remaining 46% were scheduled. From June to September, in addition, the night shift was carried out, so that a total of 14 night accompaniments were carried out during the summer.

By islands, 317 accompaniments were in Mallorca (58.8%), 148 in Ibiza (27.4%), 73 in Menorca (13.5%) and one in Formentera. By municipalities, 174 were in Palma, 95 in Eivissa and 41 in Maó. In 2022, the year in which 542 accompaniments were carried out, 56.2 % were in Mallorca, 26.9 % in Eivissa, 2.2 % in Formentera and 14.7 % in Menorca.

By typology, 495 accompaniments were due to gender violence, compared to 509 in 2022, and 34 for sexual violence, which is a slight increase over the 21 that occurred in 2022.

More than half of the applicants for accompaniment were victims (284), followed by professionals (241). Only 14 requests were from the victim’s entourage. In terms of percentage, 52.7% of the applicants for accompaniment were the victims themselves, and 44.7% were the professionals, similar figures to those of 2022, when 56.4% of the applicants were the victims, and 41.3% were the professionals.

The telephone number for assistance is 971 17 89 89, while WhatsApp assistance is carried out at 639 83 74 76.