Minister pledges overhaul of child protection system after abuse case

The Minister of Social Rights, Mònica Martínez Bravo, has pledged to overhaul Catalonia's child protection system – the DGAIA – following the case of alleged sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl in care. 

"It is evident that the DGAIA needs a deep transformation, and this has been evident for many years," Martínez Bravo said.

The minister announced that the Catalan government will act as a private prosecutor in the case of the minor in care who was a victim of child sexual abuse and exploitation.

The department has also opened an internal inquiry.

"We want to get to the bottom of it," Martínez Bravo said.

Regarding problems in hiring procedures, she explained that a transformation plan will soon be made public. 

She stressed that this government is the first one to have intervened in the matter.

Martínez Bravo expressed her “strong condemnation" of the “horrifying and unacceptable" events that have returned to the public eye this week following a prosecutor's request for more than 100 years in prison for the ringleader of the child abuse network.