The chief of police in the capital region has joined calls for a new section to be added to the criminal statute to deal specifically with domestic violence.
Such a change could, she believes, mean that more domestic violence cases make it to court in the future.
In 2013 an average of 20 domestic violence cases were investigated by the police per month, and last year that figure was up to 50, according to RÚV.
Sigríður Björk Guðjónsdóttir, chief of police, puts this down to greater awareness of the issue in society.
Svala Ísfeld Ólafsdóttir, law lecturer at Reykjavík University, made the call for a change in the law earlier this week, saying the law needs to reflect the seriousness of the crime and to provide victims with the necessary protection.
The police chief agrees: “It would certainly make bringing cases to court easier and it would be possible to adapt prosecutions appropriately. The prosecution document is structured so that it is very precise in its description, but we could be looking at a situation that may have lasted for some years and then maybe this more detailed description is needed. It is one of the reasons why we believe that this provision would be beneficial.”
