Domestic Violence Incidents Reported to the PSP Rise to 269 in a Week, With Eight Arrests: Where to Get Help
The PSP recorded 269 domestic violence incidents and made eight arrests between 17 and 23 October, up from 245 and six a week earlier. Domestic violence is a public crime, so anyone can report it, and free, confidential help is available around the clock on 800 202 148.
The Polícia de Segurança Pública (PSP, Public Security Police) recorded 269 domestic violence incidents across Portugal in the week of 17 to 23 October, and arrested eight people for the crime. The figures come from the force's weekly balance, published on 24 October in its press releases. The PSP describes them as provisional and still being consolidated.
That is up from the previous week, 10 to 16 October, when the PSP logged 245 incidents and six arrests. In the last two weeks of September it recorded 301 incidents each week. As of Sunday afternoon, the Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR, National Republican Guard) had not posted its own weekly balance for the same period on its communiqués page. Its latest, for 9 to 15 October, listed five arrests for domestic violence.
Domestic violence was a small part of the PSP's week. The force made 608 arrests in total, 290 of them for road crimes, and seized 25 firearms, 30 bladed weapons and 209 other weapons. In its release, the PSP urges anyone who knows of a crime, as a victim or a witness, to report it, and says the sooner a report is made, the sooner police can act.
The national picture
The weekly numbers sit inside a much larger annual total. The 2025 Relatório Anual de Segurança Interna (RASI, Annual Internal Security Report) counts 29,644 domestic violence reports last year, 577 fewer than in 2024 (down 1.9 percent). Violence against a spouse or partner made up 25,357 of those reports, which makes it once again the single most reported crime in the country. Cases involving children rose 8.6 percent, to 1,122.
The report says 69 percent of victims were women and 78 percent of those reported were men. Police arrested 2,669 domestic violence suspects in 2025, 11.1 percent more than the year before. At the end of 2025, 1,184 people convicted of domestic violence were in prison.
Domestic violence is a public crime
Under Article 152 of the Código Penal (Penal Code), domestic violence carries one to five years in prison, and two to five years if it is committed against or in front of a child, or in the shared home or the victim's home. It covers current and former spouses and partners, including dating relationships, whether or not the couple live together.
As the PSP explains, it is a public crime. A prosecution does not depend on a complaint from the victim; a report by anyone, or the authorities learning of the crime, is enough for the Ministério Público (Public Prosecutor's Office) to open a case. Last month the Supreme Court also ruled that a victim's pre-trial statement can stand even if they later refuse to testify.
How to get help
- Emergency: call 112.
- Serviço de Informação às Vítimas de Violência Doméstica (Domestic Violence Victim Information Service): 800 202 148, free, anonymous and confidential, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. It is run by the Comissão para a Cidadania e a Igualdade de Género (CIG, Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality). If you cannot call, text SMS 3060, which is also free and confidential, or email [email protected]. Trained staff explain your rights and where to find psychological, social and legal support.
- Associação Portuguesa de Apoio à Vítima (APAV, Portuguese Association for Victim Support): its victim support line is 116 006, free, on weekdays from 8am to 11pm, for victims, family and friends.
