By The Star Staff
During the commemoration of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, Justice Secretary Domingo Emanuelli Hernández announced on Monday the approval of an administrative order that will provide prosecutors with innovative tools to prevent femicides and effectively prosecute domestic violence crimes.
One of the tools consists of a risk assessment or danger assessment so that in every case of gender violence, prosecutors can identify the risk to which victims are exposed of losing their lives at the hands of their aggressors. The result of such an assessment will empower the prosecutor to make decisions regarding security measures to protect victims, the coordination of services, and investigation and judicial prosecution strategies. It will also help promote the participation of victims in the different stages of the criminal process of criminal cases.
“With a focus on the prevention of femicides, we have incorporated into the investigation protocol of the Specialized Units of the Department of Justice a death risk assessment instrument that allows us to determine with scientific value the level of danger faced by a victim,” the Justice secretary said. “This mechanism was created by Dr. Jaqueline Campbell, a professor at John Hopkins University who is internationally recognized for her efforts in defense of victims. This initiative is an additional measure to those we have already implemented to strengthen the processing of domestic violence cases with a victim-centered approach and by the public policy of Governor Pedro Pierluisi, who recently extended the emergency declaration to eradicate gender violence.”
The risk assessment, implemented through the Coordination Division of the Justice Department’s Specialized Units for Domestic Violence, Sexual Crimes and Child Abuse (DCUE by its Spanish initials), is used by 48 states and nine countries.
“The prosecutor will expand his role, because in addition to being in charge of criminal prosecution, he will be able to work on prevention, relying on a reliable scientific tool,” said prosecutor Laura Hernández Gutiérrez, the director of the DCUE. “This instrument will help the victim to protect herself and the prosecutor to make procedural decisions and, in some cases, even in determining the formulation of charges.”
All prosecutors will be certified and trained to use the risk assessment, which will be incorporated into the new Prosecutor’s Manual for the Investigation and Litigation of Sexual Violence Cases, created by virtue of Administrative Order 2023-08, signed on Monday by the Justice secretary.
“This new manual is a comprehensive, standardized guide for all prosecutors on the appropriate way to conduct sexual violence investigations and how to direct them according to the victim’s particular circumstances,” noted Jessika Correa González, who directs the prosecutors office. “Beyond focusing on conviction, process cases in response to the needs of the victims. So that they feel that justice has been done to them during the process, from beginning to end, avoiding revictimization.”
The manual explains how to intervene with victims in crisis in cases of a sexual nature, how to provide adequate care for victims with functional diversity, the forensic medical examination when the abuse is facilitated by drugs and alcohol, intervention in hospital institutions, and the referral process with regard to integrated service centers, among other aspects of great relevance in case management.
“It is an interactive manual, which contains links to audiovisual material that complements the information on the protocols and processes that you must follow during your management,” Hernández Gutiérrez said. “The fact that the manual comes into force through an administrative order of the secretary of Justice ensures the implementation and continuity of this effort.”
Likewise on Monday, the Justice Department activated the Specialized Academy on Gender Violence and Sexual Crimes to train prosecutors on the administration of new prevention measures, as well as on the most recent amendments to the laws and protocols through which gender violence crimes are processed under the emergency declaration.
Gender Violence is an all encompassing affair, which has in the past been ignorant of the victimhood of those assaulted, raped, abused. The prosecutions attention should be firmly upon the victim, that they can participate in the process of justice, and then concern itself upon the predator and their needs and rehabilitation.
Steven Kaszab