The Prosecutor-General's Office registered a 20-percent increase in the number of people prosecuted for domestic violence in 2020, while at the same time it observed a 30-percent increase in reported cases of this kind, the head of the violent and general crimes department at the PG's Office, prosecutor Barbora Hubertová, announced on Tuesday.
According to Hubertová, the PG's Office processed more than 480 crimes related to domestic violence and took action in 440 of such cases. A total of 279 people were prosecuted for assaulting relatives, 20 people were charged with producing child pornography, 85 people were prosecuted for disseminating it and 56 were found to be in possession of it. Of all the offenders, 37 were women and 40 were minors.
The prosecutor opined that the spike can most likely be attributed to the pandemic, which can entail the loss of jobs, incomes and social guarantees, and lead to alcoholism. "All of these are factors that contribute to frustration in the given person. When added to their violent inclinations, this causes them to react in such a manner," she explained.
On a related note, Hubertová remarked that the number of sexual crimes within families, i.e. rapes by partners, also rose.
