In the context of International Women's Day, IKEA is joining forces, for the third consecutive year, with the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (CIG) to continue supporting victims of domestic violence.

One of the measures taken as part of this partnership was the transformation of IKEA's Customer Support Line into an information and support line for these victims, with more than 160 calls redirected since last year.

When calling IKEA, victims can select to be redirected to the Domestic Violence Victim Information Service, which guarantees assistance from a specialized technical team, anonymously and confidentially. This way, the call is registered as being to IKEA.

Fund to support autonomy

This year, IKEA is also reinforcing its fund to support women's independence, having contributed a total of €37 over three years of partnership to support women who are temporarily housed in shelters run by the National Network for Support to Victims of Domestic Violence.

This fund, which has already supported 26 people, aims to enable these women, once their safety is guaranteed, to have the opportunity to restart their lives, with access to their own housing and assistance to pay initial rents.

“At IKEA, we believe that equality begins at home and that it must first and foremost be a safe place. Unfortunately, the data continues to show us that it is not yet possible for everyone to feel safe and comfortable at home, and we want to play an active role in combating this scourge. It is essential to allow these people to rebuild their lives, and the home is a key part of this process,” says Cláudia Domingues, Communications Director of IKEA Portugal.

The responsibility for distributing this support lies with the CIG, and it is intended exclusively for women who are already in the process of becoming independent.

“Finding a home is the first step for a victim of domestic violence to be able to start their life safely again, and we know – especially nowadays – how difficult it is to find a home that we can afford. IKEA's support has been fundamental to the work we have been developing at CIG, to remove victims from the abusive environment in which they found themselves, so that they can finally start over,” adds Marta Silva, from CIG.

These initiatives follow the Pact against Violence, signed between the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (CIG) and IKEA in 2021.

Podcast Equally

Recently, IKEA released an episode of its podcast "Equally," focusing on combating dating violence. This third episode of season 4, moderated by actress and presenter Cláudia Semedo, discusses the issue and seeks to find tools to promote equality of rights and responsibilities in relationships, at a time when domestic violence is one of the crimes with the highest mortality rate in Portugal.

Joining the conversation were Ariana Correia, psychologist and coordinator of the UNi+ 3.0 program – a program for the prevention and combating of dating violence in higher education; Inês Marinho, president of the #NãoPartilhes Association; and Sandra Baptista, from the IKEA Portugal Recruitment team, to discuss the dangers of toxic relationships, regardless of age.

This episode is available on the podcast platforms Spotify , Google Podcasts , and Apple Podcasts , and on YouTube.

Victims or witnesses of violence can ask for help through the IKEA Customer Support Line (+351 21 989 99 45), selecting option 8. Another alternative to ask for help or report cases is the National Support Line for Victims of Domestic Violence (800 202 148 or SMS to 3060).