In 2018, the LNS estimated that after one to two years, they would have a demand of 50 to 100 cases per year, i.e., one to two cases per week. However, the number has stagnated at around 15 to 20 cases per year. While the pandemic certainly played a role, the service also struggles with the fact that not enough people know about it.
In 2020, the police intervened 943 times in cases of domestic violence. In 278 cases, the public prosecutor’s office banned the culprit from entering the home.
According to forensic scientist Thorsten Schwark from the LNS, the figures prove that there is a need for a service like Umedo, which is aimed specifically at victims of domestic violence. Schwark explains that even in specialist circles, e.g., among members of the emergency services, he regularly encounters people who have never heard of Umedo. For Schwark, this is a clear sign that the service is not well-known enough.
However, the figures from the past two years do not fully reflect the situation on the ground, as the pandemic has made it more difficult for victims to distance themselves from the culprit. The team behind Umedo is currently working on a campaign that will include increased advertising on social media, in the hopes of reaching more people that way.
The team also noticed that the victims who have reached out so far generally correspond to a specific profile, according to Martine Schaul, forensic scientist at the LNS. They are mostly middle-aged, have a job, and are either well-informed in general or found the service through their own research. On the other hand, Umedo has also handled cases that were brought to their attention through charities.
The vast majority of victims who have contacted Umedo over the past four years were women. However, this is related to the fact that women have a greater risk of experiencing domestic violence. And whenever there is a close personal connection to the culprit, victims find it particularly difficult to file a complaint. For this reason, the team at Umedo documents their injuries and keeps the files for the next ten years. This corresponds to the limitation periods of these types of crimes.
Victims also have the option to have their injuries documented in a hospital, if they prefer not to drive to Dudelange. However, Schaul points out that many actually appreciate the discreet environment in Dudelange. As they are unlikely to run into anyone they might know in Dudelange, victims are able to visit the team at Umedo without anyone knowing that they did so.
How often the cases result in a complaint is difficult to say, Schaul explains, since they are not automatically informed of such a decision. In some cases, a victim’s lawyer or the police have visited Umedo to collect the data with the permission of the victim. But if the victim personally picks up their pictures, which has happened more often, the team usually does not know what happens next. In any case, Schaul stresses that Umedo never acts on its own accord or on the order of a judge or the public prosecutor’s office.
Besides the 63 people who have contacted the service since its creation in 2018, the team has also handled about thrice as many calls. Often, these include cases that have to be forwarded to other services, for instance if a complaint has already been filed or if they involve minors.
