Domestic violence: 7 deaths from January to March

Seven people died in the context of domestic violence in the first three months of the year, revealed the PJ, adding that, between 2020 and March 2025, deaths in this context represented practically 25% of the total number of homicide investigations.

The data was released this Friday, during the seminar on domestic violence, which took place at the Polícia Judiciária building, in Lisbon, by the PJ's criminal investigation coordinator, Pedro Maia, who stressed that “the value of the context of domestic violence is high and expressive”.

The data reveal that, in total, 588 inquiries were registered and investigated by the Judicial Police, of which 145 are inquiries into homicide in the context of domestic violence, representing 24.65% of the total.

In the first three months of the year alone, the Judicial Police records reveal the existence of 41 homicide investigations, six of which took place in the context of domestic violence.

[The police are called to a house after a noise complaint. When they arrive, the officers find a wild birthday party. But the birthday boy, José Valbom, has disappeared. “ O Zé faz 25 ” is Observador’s first fiction podcast, co-produced by Coyote Vadio and featuring the voices of Tiago Teotónio Pereira, Sara Matos, Madalena Almeida, Cristovão Campos, Vicente Wallenstein, Beatriz Godinho, José Raposo and Carla Maciel. You can listen to the 3rd episode on Observador’s website , on Apple Podcasts , on Spotify and on Youtube Music . And the first episode here and the second here .]

In these six investigations, there are seven victims, six female and one male, although the data does not specify, however, how many victims are minors.

Looking at the geographical distribution, and also in relation to the first three months of the year, two homicide investigations in the context of domestic violence refer to Setúbal, another two to Lisbon, one to Porto and another to Braga.

In this type of crime, between 2020 and the first quarter of 2025, the bladed weapon was the most used type of weapon, identified in 51 investigations, followed by the firearm, 37 investigations, and physical force, usually through asphyxiation, in 26 investigations.

At the same seminar, the Attorney General argued that, in cases of domestic violence, it should not be the victim who leaves the home and family environment, but rather the aggressor, and called for changes to be made in this regard.

“I intend to raise awareness among the Minister of Justice that, in my view, it is the aggressor who should leave the house and not the victim. The current situation makes no sense and we must think about this situation”, argued Amadeu Guerra.