Belgium installs five new centers in 2023 to support victims of domestic violence even more. The minister will add a budget of 9 million euros to do so. That way, the network of the Family Justice Centers will cover the whole of Flanders indeed. The new Family Justice Centers will be located in Leuven, Halle, Ghent, Kortrijk, and Ostend. Antwerp, the Kempen, Mechelen, and Limburg already have four operational centers.

The existing centers have showcased their importance and impact. The number of families asking for support increased massively in the past two years, namely from 1845 in 2020 to 2588 in 2022. This is an increase of 40 percent. A multidisciplinary approach is central to those Family Justice Centers. It means that care providers such as psychologists work together with the police, and the public prosecutor’s office. More attention will be paid to children, by deploying extra child psychologists in the near future, and to honor-related violence.

Source: De Morgen.