President Rebelo de Sousa, who was speaking at a meeting in Lisbon under the theme “The Woman, Today,” organised by the Foundation Francisco Manuel dos Santos, said domestic violence and violence among young couples were signs that there was a “problem” in society which had to be dealt with.


Rebelo de Sousa said it was “urgent” for the country to correct these “imbalances.”


Portugal’s network of feminist groups, known as the 8 of March network, is organising several “noisy protests” on Valentine’s day in five cities to protest against domestic violence.


The collective said in a statement that several protests were planned for the cities of Porto, Braga, Coimbra, Aveiro and capital Lisbon.


The statement also points out that the country celebrates Valentine’s day on Thursday and that studies show that a significant part of young people don’t recognise violent situations in relationships, adding that violence is generally “naturalised” and “legitimised.”
According to the network, these figures reveal “abusive behaviour” start “very early” and that 10 women have already been killed in Portugal this year.


It was also noted that it takes “at least five generations” for men in Portugal to equally share domestic tasks with women, according to a study released on Tuesday in which most women admit they are always or almost always “tired.”


The study, titled “Women in Portugal, today” carried out by Laura Sagnier and Alex Morell, points out that unpaid work in households continues to be relegated to women and that this reality is unlikely to change in a near future, unless “drastic measures” are taken.
The study highlighted that if contributions by men in household tasks in the last generation continue to evolve at the same pace, a further five or six generations will be needed to achieve equality in couples where both have paid work.


Commissioned by the Foundation Francisco Manuel dos Santos, the consultancy PRM study will present in Lisbon on Tuesday, the study of 2,428 women aged between 18 and 64 residing in Portugal, interviewed in May 2018 on the internet.