The Minister of Justice and the Minister of Social Affairs and Children have agreed to earmark a combined ISK 24 million {$200,402; €176,854] in the establishment of a new service centre in Akureyri for victims of violence, Vísir reports.
The Akureyri Chief of Police will oversee the project in collaboration with a number of other organizations: the town of Akureyri, the University of Akureyri, the Akureyri Hospital, the Health Care Institution of North Iceland, the Kvennaathvarfið Women’s Shelter, the Kvennaráðgjöf Women’s Counseling Centre, the Icelandic Human Rights Centre, and Aflið, the Association Against Sexual and Domestic Violence. They hope to open by March 1, at which point, the new centre will provide free social support services and legal advice to adults who have been the victims of violence.
A similar centre, called Bjarkahlíð is already operational in Reykjavík. The new centre, which is being created at the behest of the North Iceland Police, is intended to serve individuals living in north and east Iceland. It will run as a pilot program for two years and receive its funding from the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Social Affairs, who are splitting the cost equally between them.
