The Call Center for Women of Ligue 180 received, this Tuesday (4), the Minister of Women, Cida Gonçalves, the Minister of Human Rights and Citizenship, Silvio Almeida, and the First Lady, sociologist Janja Lula da Silva. The date of the visit marks the beginning of the operation of the exclusive Ligue 180 service channel via WhatsApp. During the visit, Minister Cida Gonçalves celebrated the fact that the service at the center is entirely provided by women. About 360 attendants take turns in service shifts. Minister Cida Gonçalves highlighted that this is a way to increase the number of victims. “When you are attacked, you want to find the voice of another person of your gender. But if you find a man’s voice, you might think of an abuser’s voice. It is this image that passes.” Call 180 via WhatsApp Service via WhatsApp is the result of a partnership between the Ministry of Women and the company Meta, the company that owns the application. The service is provided using artificial intelligence technology with a virtual attendant called Pagu. The name refers to the figure of a wise woman, capable of breaking taboos, and honors Pagu, the nickname of writer Patrícia Rehder Galvão (1910-1962). WhatsApp’s new function offers written help options to those who send messages to the number (61) 96-100-180 (or click here). However, at any time, a physical attendant at the center can be called to continue the service, for example, in the event of a threat to the complainant’s life. The new service channel had been tested in a pilot project in Piauí since International Women’s Day (March 8). With the name Ei, Mermã, não se Cale!, the service of the Secretary of Public Security of the state encouraged women not to remain silent in the face of any type of aggression suffered, whether physical, psychological, moral or economic. The Manager of Interoperability of Solutions at the Secretariat of Administration of the state of Piauí, Jonatas Soares, was at the Call 180 Women’s Service Center and spoke to Agência Brasil about the first results of the initiative. “The channel started to have a good adhesion, mainly, due to trust. Women have a quick, immediate response. It has become a means where, among the basic functionalities, they can make complaints and find a support network.” The secretary for Combating Violence against Women, from the Ministry of Women, Denise Motta Dau, explained that the new service channel is part of a larger policy to combat violence. “It is an essential service, it is an important part of the resumption of the Programa Mulher Viver sem Violência so that the service better serves women in situations of violence, so that they know how to identify the situation of violence they are experiencing and which service is most next to which they should go [como uma Delegacia de Atendimento à Mulher – Deam].” The general coordinator of Ligue 180, Ellen Costa, gave tips to users victims of violence, after using the WhatsApp service. “Save the contact with a friend’s name or as Pagu. Delete the message after using the service so that the attacker does not read it, ”she advised her. The director of Customers and Global Categories for Latin America at Meta, Malu Lopez, who was present at the visit, said that technology has to be easy, simple, fast and safe. “Many women may not be able to make a phone call when they need it most. But they can have access to a smartphone with an internet connection. Through WhatsApp, they manage to discreetly access Call 180, allowing cases of violence to be reported, without the aggressor being aware of the contact.” For Malu, with the novelty, “women will have the safest, most discreet and easily accessible service”. “Operators will work more quickly. Managers will be able to carry out more accurate data analysis”, highlighted the representative of Meta, which, in addition to WhatsApp, also owns the social networks Instagram and Facebook. First Lady Janja Lula da Silva and Minister Cida Gonçalves visit the Ligue 180 call center – Fabio Rodrigues-Pozzebom/ Agência Brasil In her first visit to a Ligue 180 call center, Janja Lula da Silva congratulated the telephone attendants, at the workplace. And she also highlighted the partnership with Meta, to protect women. “I think it’s very important, because we know that social networks and WhatsApp and Telegram channels are the main channels for disseminating hate messages against women,” she said. “The violence starts there [nas redes sociais] and ends at the tip of a knife or a bullet”, he warned. Janja stated that she herself has suffered from aggression on social media. “I have experienced, in the last two months, a series of misogyny attacks, against my morals”. Ligue 180 managed by the Ministry of Women through Disque 100 – a service for transmitting information about the rights of vulnerable groups and denouncing human rights violations. The previous management’s justification was that the unification of the Disque 100 and Ligue 180 channels would bring savings to public coffers. The current coordinator -General of Dial 100 of the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship, Sidnei Costa, disagrees with the argument and talks about the damages of the measure. “There was a falsification of economy in the contract”, he said. “An idea was created that everything could be met in the same block and, obviously, the population is the one who feels it. Because the quality of care decreases, the effectiveness of the services decreases.” Since February, Ligue 180 has been undergoing restructuring, and the channel will have its own switchboard, separate from Disque 100, after June, when the current service provision contract will expire. Minister Silvio Almeida sees advantages in the separation, which, according to him, “will give specificity to the demands and services that are provided by the two reporting channels”. Minister Silvio Almeida talks about the advantages of separating Ligue 180 and Disque 100 – Fabio Rodrigues-Pozzebom/ Agência Brasil But, according to the minister, demands can be met together, when necessary. “The separation does not mean that the ministries do not work together, that the concerns are not transversal. But it means giving better attention to specific demands, in this case, violence against women and, in another case, other human rights violations that demand a more singular treatment.” The general coordinator of Ligue 180, Ellen Costa, mentions that the separation will improve the quality of the data collected in the calls. “Today, unfortunately, we are unable to properly differentiate violations [dos direitos humanos] and the number of calls that enter only the Ligue 180 reporting channel. We will again make this differentiation, the balances that existed previously, with various specificities: victim profile, aggressor profile, among other qualifications.” Call 180 attendants Created in 2005, Call 180 is a free telephone service for guidance and forwarding complaints about violence against women. The central is national and works 24 hours a day, every day of the week, including weekends and holidays. For security reasons, the location of the call center cannot be disclosed. Minister Cida Gonçalves highlighted the role of attendants in combating violence against girls and women and said that she wants to put them in more contact with the public. “It’s you from Ligue 180 who actually reach the women who call”. “We’re going back because it’s a way to make the attendants understand who the women they serve are. Where are these women? The public policies that we formulate behind the conferences, the meetings, the meetings that culminate here, in this service, demand their participation. So, we want them in the Women’s Ministry, taking part, thinking about public policies and helping to save women’s lives, as you do every day”, she said, during her visit to the center. As part of the restructuring, since March, the Ministry of Women has adopted measures to give more security to attendants and protect them from abuse, such as hazing. “The entire ministry knows how important it is for Ligue 180 attendants to have dignity at work, to have a humane process. Because you need to be taken care of”, said Cida Gonçalves. The minister concluded by saying that Ligue 180 is part of the federal government’s strategy to achieve the goal set by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, to eliminate, by 2026, femicide, which is the murder of a woman based on her gender. “It is the commitment of a government as a whole, in four years”.
Agência Brasil
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