The auditorium of Panama's National Women's Institute (INAMU) was the setting for a meeting, on 25th June, of nine member institutions of the National Committee against Violence Against Women (CONVIMU), more specifically, those that form part of the Protocols Subcomittee, with a view to advancing on the technical validation of the National Protocol for Comprehensive Attention for Victims of Domestic Violence. This initiative has been defined by a mixed team of experts including Bárbara Sordi from Brazil and consultant and former director of INAMU, Rosina Pérez

The document has advanced considerably and the technical and institutional validation is expected to conclude in July. The protocol establishes action guidelines across 4 institutional sectors: justice and security, health, education and social services, and involves multiple institutions at a national level.  Panama is the country of focus for this action to combat gender-based violence, led by EUROsociAL, a European Commission cooperation programme, with quick progress being made on the component relating to attention.  Despite having instruments relating to this matter already in place in Panama, until now, none have been able to group together or coordinate the efforts of so many institutions and bodies or been subjected to such an exhaustive technical development process.  In fact, this protocol represents a significant advance with respect to the content of the implementing regulations of Act 82, which defined femicide as an offence.

At both this meeting and the work session held on 26th June with the technical team of the INAMU, which holds the office of Technical Secretariat of CONVIMU, EUROsociAL was represented by the technical expert responsible for the action, Luz Entrena (COMJIB).