Prague, Dec 8 (CTK) – The Czech Government Council for Gender Equality yesterday recommended that the Interior Ministry earmark at least three times more money for the prevention of domestic violence and that it be used for therapeutic communication with the perpetrators.
At present, the ministry annually gives 1.6 million crowns. This sum should reach minimally five million crowns, the council said.
“If we want to stop the violence, we must deal with those who commit it. Otherwise it is a vicious circle,” Jindriska Krpalkova, head of the government committee for prevention of domestic violence, told CTK.
Krpalkova said the violent persons were not absolutely bad or evil, but that they only dealt with their problems in unsuitable ways.
She said there was a big chance of violence perpetrators changing their behaviour if they received therapeutic assistance.
The Interior Ministry is ready to subsidise programmes for dealing with violence perpetrators, its representative said yesterday according to Deputy Human Rights Minister Martina Stepankova.
The prevention programmes now focus mainly on the protection of elderly people. In 2013-14, the programmes dealt with prevention of domestic violence. In 2011-12, they concerned expert work with the perpetrators of the violence.
Violent persons should undergo therapy according to the action plan of domestic violence prevention, but this demand has not yet been included in the law on social services. In consequence, the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry does not subsidise such therapy.
($1=24.997 crowns)
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