Ten rapes a day in West Flanders, Care Center after Sexual Violence has been around for a year now
Tomorrow March 8, on International Women’s Day, the Care Center after Sexual Violence in Rumbeke near Roeselare will exist for a year. The center is the only one in our province. Victims discreetly receive all the necessary help.
Also from the police and judiciary who collect the necessary evidence so that more perpetrators are convicted.
“Frightening numbers”
In one year, the center received 400 victims, or an average of one per day. Seven out of ten cases involve rape or attempted rape. (Read more below the photo.)
“The figures are frightening. There are an estimated ten rapes per day in our province. People used to be sent from pillar to post. Now there is the Care Center and they can also report to a vice inspector. All services are united “, says Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne.
Minor
One in three victims is a minor. These are often harrowing situations in which alcohol and drugs play a role. Victims can go to the center free of charge 24/7.
“We ensure their safety and, if necessary, admit them if there is no good home situation. We also ensure that there is no contact, so that the perpetrators cannot come here. We protect the patients to the top,” says Lieven. Wostyn from the care center.
Evidence
The aim of the center is also to identify suspects and to collect better evidence so that more perpetrators are convicted.
“Here in the care center, traces of sexual violence are immediately collected. These can be used later to have more suspects convicted. We see in Antwerp that the number of convictions for rape has doubled since the start of the Care Center after Sexual Violence. We hope that can also be reached here in West Flanders,” it sounds.
Around the summer, the Care Center will move to a new building, close to the emergency department of the hospital. A team of ten forensic nurses is then ready to receive more victims.