Ofélia Manuel COUTINHO

Education

• Criminal and Procedural Law
• Master of Law
• Bachelor in Legal Sciences

Research Area/Interests

• Criminal Law and Family Law. Specially the matters of domestic violence, parental abduction, marriage and divorce. Domestic violence perpetrated by a man against a woman is a reality and is reported as an emerging problem of any. But specifically, seek to understand how the judicial system has dealt with this social problem. This legal type of crime is based on aggression between people-spouses, ex-spouses, boyfriends or the person with whom the aggressor maintains or has had a relationship of proximity or intimacy, similar to that of spouses. Domestic violence manifests itself in the family and in private relationships and sometimes assumes disproportionate proportions, the consequences of which can be highly tragic for its victims who are directly or indirectly involved, even resulting in cases of flight with recourse to parental abduction of the children and, more serious, in homicide or suicide. In these cases, justice must protect the interests of victims and legal assets exposed to this danger. This social reality leads us to some reflections: what is the reality of domestic violence. Why don’t most women report? Should the State prioritize the will of the victim who does not intend to report the aggressor? Is the system available for protection sufficient for protection seeking protection? Why do women continue to suffer aggression and die?