Police officers operating in the VioGén 2 System must be particularly vigilant in cases considered to be of special relevance.
Until September 14, police officers operating in the VioGén 2 System must be extremely vigilant in those cases considered of special relevance or involving minors at risk, in which the woman has suffered previous episodes of violence with other perpetrators and persistent aggressors, and in all those in which mental health and addiction problems are present.
The guidelines of the Secretary of State for Security remind that the risk increases with some environmental circumstances -such as high temperatures-, weekends and the days prior to festivities of any nature.
The Secretary of State for Security of the Ministry of the Interior has ordered the police forces operating in the VioGen 2 System to reinforce protection measures for victims of gender violence during the summer period.
The operational guideline, dated June 23, is addressed mainly to the National Police, the Civil Guard and the Navarra Foral Police, but has also been sent through the internal communication channels of VioGén 2 to the other operators who interact in the system.
The instruction to reinforce protection measures for women at risk will be in force until September 14. The statistics of the system show that this period of the year is one of those that show an increase in violent events generated by gender violence, so it is necessary to adopt some extraordinary measures.
For this reason, agents should consider as higher risk some environmental circumstances -such as high temperatures- that favor crisis dynamics in human relationships and increase the probability of aggressive behavior. Weekends and days prior to festivities of any kind will also be considered high-risk periods.
Regarding the active cases managed in the VioGén 2 System, protection measures should be reinforced in those considered of special relevance or which include minors at risk, in which the woman has suffered previous episodes of violence with other perpetrators and persistent aggressors and in all those in which mental health problems and addictions or substance abuse, especially alcohol, are found.
Victims' environment
The guideline reminds police officers of the need to ensure effective and rigorous compliance with Protocol 2025, included in Instruction 1/2025 of the Secretary of State for Security, which establishes a new protocol for police assessment and management of the level of risk of gender violence and monitoring of cases through the VioGén 2 System.
Protocol 2025 improves the police assessment of the victim's risk by specifying the assessment of the aggressors' dangerousness based on elements such as violent background, alcohol or other intoxicants consumption and their characteristics of impulsivity and aggressiveness, especially when they have been convicted of very serious injuries or homicides.
In this sense, the guideline asks the agents to increase the communication channels with the victims' environment to access accurate and updated information that allows adjusting the level of risk and improving the victim's protection.
It also requests an increase in police procedures and actions for early detection of possible cases of gender violence that have not yet been reported, for which they have the so-called Protocol Zero, which guides the first police contact with victims of gender violence in a situation of unprotection.
These precautions are particularly recommended in so-called ‘resistant cases’, those in which the victim, despite the protection offered by the system, refuses or hinders assistance and security measures.
In these cases, the agents should seek the involvement of social services or other assistance resources within their reach to provide a more effective response to these complex cases in which an early detection of risk is necessary to activate concrete and specific actions for each victim.
