Portugal’s courts convicted 379 sex offenders last year with 311 of them successfully prosecuted for the sexual abuse of children and dependent minors, 60 convicted of child pornography charges, five for child prostitution and three for the pimping and trafficking of minors
According to data from the Ministry of Justice 82% of those accused were convicted, as in 2015 there were 462 defendants.
Data from the Attorney General's Office reveal that in the first six months of 2016, the Public Prosecutor's Office has opened 954 inquiries, of which 230 people so far have been charged.
For the Portuguese Association for Victim Support, "there has been a growing increase in crimes of sexual abuse against children that have been investigated by the police," pointing out that "this most worrying form of crime occurs within the family, with the perpetrators usually being a relative or someone the child knows."
To support children and young people, the Association has developed a new CARE network which so far has supported 170 children and young people.
In the first half of 2016, the CARE programme has helped 103 children of which 83% are female, 35% are between 14 and 17 years old and in 28% of cases the victims are a child of the offender.
