Most calls to the social emergency hotline 123, were related to family disputes, marital discord and divorce (25-26%) followed by domestic violence, child abuse and suicide attempts with 7.5%, 8.5% and 1%, in the first six months of this year (started March 21), said Habibollah Masoudi Farid, deputy of social affairs at the State Welfare Organization (SWO).
More than 74,000 calls were made to 160 social service centers and 298 mobile social emergency services in 190 cities. Mobile emergency services are active in 20 cities with a population of 50,000 people and above, he said, quoted by ISNA.
Masoudi Farid pointed to the hierarchical framework of the social emergency services which are classified in three ranks. In the top classification, 31 centers provide services 24/7 and are staffed with a professional team of legal experts, physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers.
In the 2nd category, those providing services in rural areas and suburbs are active 24/7 as well. The only difference is that their teams are “less specialized.”
The third comprises centers for daily crises intervention which exist in most cities. Their services are available online at all times and in case of high distress calls, the aggrieved person is transferred to the nearest emergency center in the top two categories. The maximum stay at a social service center is 21 days after which the competent court will consider the case and transfer the aggrieved to a welfare center if necessary.
Runaway Girls
Pointing out that women in the 20-40 years age group made the maximum calls to the hotline 123, he said 450-550 runaway girls every year are taken care of at the health houses run by the SWO. Statistics show a steady trend in the number of runaway girls. This problem has assumed serious social dimensions and is a big challenge for families.
The primary causes of this social anomaly are family violence or dysfunctional families, drug addiction among parents and other domestic issues; 10% of the calls were related to personal issues such as emotional distress and mental stress.
Lack of effective communication between parents and children is one of the main reasons for domestic violence; conflict in traditional and modern values, decline in traditional and cultural values and lack of restraint on new and often deviant behaviors are important warning signs directly related to family violence, crime and other social and health consequences, he added.
