1.Everyone shall possess the right to freely express and publicise his thoughts in words, images or by any other means, as well as the right to inform others, inform himself and be informed without hindrance or discrimination
2.Exercise of the said rights shall not be hindered or limited by any type or form of censorship
Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, Article 37.º
Without a Trace...
Book "Defenceless Lives" includes guide for the parents of missing children
Video
English Transcript (ongoing)
Conceição Lino (CL): Today he is here to speak about this issue. Your new book is precisely about the disappearance, kidnap and abuse of children in Portugal: "Defenceless Lives". Why did you decide to write this book?
Gonçalo Amaral (GA): Well, because I realized that there is a reality, a sad reality of which there is a certain lack of knowledge, a lack of studies about the phenomenon and problematic regarding the disappearance of children in Portugal. As in other cases the police forces act on a case by case basis and what is lacking in Portugal, in various situations, is to study and plan the reaction to certain types of crimes. And in fact, in this case, it didn't exist. There aren't...
CL: In your opinion...
GA: There aren't any studies. The police acts case by case, most times the acting is based on the experience, by the police logical reasoning...
CL: Different teams, in different locations in the country...
GA: Yes, exactly.
CL: In your opinion should there be a specialized team only for this kind of cases?
GA: Without a doubt. At a national level, we are a small country, there should be a police unit solely for the disappearance of children. Kidnap or not, but for the disappearance of children. Regardless if it is a voluntary disappearance or not, even in voluntary disappearances, that child and the anxiety that her absence - it could be for a day or two [the disappearance] - causes to the family, the anguish implied, that is important.
CL: It is one of the worries you have in this book, you speak about the suffering, the...
GA: Exactly.
CL: ...the devastation that is, for a family to feel the absence and not have any information about their child, about...
GA: And they don't even know what to do.
CL: ...about the child if it is a small child; but, inclusively the grandparents, the siblings, all the family not knowing what to do and with a huge suffering.
GA: Huge suffering. In the United States, for example, there is a guide - and I speak about that guide here [in the book] - of support to the families of long-term missing children, in Portugal that [guide] is unknown. What can the families expect from the authorities? From the police activities? What can they do to contribute to the return of the child, and what can they do to survive that tragedy that affects not only the parents, but also the siblings - if they exist. Here in Portugal we don't have anything like that. Even though other countries have that, here in Portugal no one ever talked about that, on those guides to support the families. This book also has that concern, it speaks about the families, what the families can expect, what they can do, how to help, and how they can survive to all that.
CL: The number of missing children cases in Portugal, of children who have disappeared without a trace, is much lower in comparison to other places around the world, right? But they are sufficient to raise concerns...
GA: Yes, much, much lower. One case would be enough.
CL:...One case would be enough - and to alarm any of us. And if this happened to me? It's something that worries any person.
GA: And it could happen to anyone, unfortunately it could happen. That is the preoccupation in this book, and also to explain to people how the police should be organized, what the authorities can do, what tools they have and need to investigate these cases.
«Vidas sem Defesa surge como um grito de revolta de quem se preocupa com a defesa das crianças e um hino de homenagem àquelas que, de uma maneira ou de outra, não tiveram quem as protegesse.
É uma obra em relação à qual ninguém pode ficar indiferente.
A sua leitura, obrigatória, quer para leigos quer para técnicos, constituirá um importante alerta para um dos maiores flagelos da actualidade: DESAPARECIMENTO; RAPTO e ABUSO DE CRIANÇAS.»
Paulo Sargento, Prefácio
Inclui:
• Guia para pais, educadores e responsáveis de crianças desaparecidas ou raptadas.
• Guia de investigação criminal da fase crítica do rapto de crianças.
Neste livro, que reúne um acervo documental importantíssimo sobre a investigação do desaparecimento de crianças a nível internacional, Gonçalo Amaral, uma das vozes que mais sabe e tem levado a sério o combate ao desaparecimento de crianças vítimas de maus-tratos e de negligência no nosso país, constrói uma obra que se imporá como referência para pais, investigadores e todos aqueles que acham necessário falar e, sobretudo, agir para que estas frágeis vidas não fiquem sem defesa.
Planeta
Nº páginas: 320
ISBN: 978-989-657-247-1
P.V.P.: 14.40€
“Defenceless Lives emerges as a cry of revolt of one who cares about the defence of children and as a hymn of homage to those who, in one way or another, did not have anyone to protect them.
It is a work to which no one can remain indifferent.
Its reading is compulsory, whether for non-professionals or for technicians, it will be an important alert for one of the greatest scourges of our time: DISAPPEARANCE; ABDUCTION and CHILD ABUSE.”
Paulo Sargento, Preface
includes:
• A Guide for parents, educators and guardians of missing or abducted children.
• A Guide of criminal investigation of the critical phase of child abduction.
In this book, which brings together a paramount collection of documents about the investigation into the disappearance of children internationally, Gonçalo Amaral, one of the voices that knows more and has taken seriously the fight against missing children, victims of abuse and neglect in our country, build a work that will impose itself as a reference for parents, investigators and all those who find it necessary to speak, and above all, to act, so these fragile lives will not remain defenceless.
Terra Quente - O Fim Do Milénio
30 minutos, 2001 Portugal
Produção/Realização/Filmagem/Som: Joana Morais
Montagem: Joana Morais
Assistente de Montagem: Pedro Cardoso Martins
Voz Off - Graça Morais
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