10 May, 2007 - Published 14:29 GMT
Help for victims of crime in Chile
Outlook listener Gonzalo Fuenzalida has spoken to Outlook about the shocking crime that led him to set up a victim support centre in Santiago, Chile.
On May 19th last year, Gonzalo's house was robbed, his wife had two guns put to her head, his nanny was beaten up and the robbers threatened to kill his 8 month-old baby.
"They were expecting to find a lot of money," Gonzalo told Outlook reporter Jane Chambers, "But nobody has money in their house, so one of them was very upset.
"He took the little baby and he said I am going to kill the baby, if you don't give me the money.
"So he took the baby, she was in the arms of my wife, and he went out of the room, more or less one minute.
"For me it was an eternity and for my wife too, so we started to cry and say no please give her back to us, give her back to us."
After the robbers had taken the couple's credit cards and their pin numbers, they fled the house.
In the morning, Gonzalo embarked on the plan that led him to set up a centre for the victims of crime.
He began by describing what had happened to the press - and then organised a protest in Santiago.
"Three thousand people went to the centre of the city and we protested about the
insecurity that we are living in this country and the passive behaviour that the
authorities have in this problem.
"In the protest there were a lot of victims and I realised that nobody is taking care of the victims in this country.
"So after the protest we decided OK we are going to make an organization, a non-profit organization doing the things that the government is not doing now, taking care of the victims and also social aid too."
The Centre of Attention Integral de Victimas de la Deliqencia was set up to provide victims with psychological and social care.
Gonzalo also believes that more legal aid should be given to victims.
"In Chile the victims don't have the same right that the criminal has," he said, "When you are the victim, the police catch the criminal and the criminal has a right to
have a lawyer and we pay this lawyer.
"At the same time a prosecutor is going to investigate the situation but you (the victim) don't have
a lawyer.
"If you don't have money to employ a lawyer so you have to defend by
yourself and probably in some cases the prosecutor doesn't make a good work.
"We think that victims have the right to be defended by a lawyer, paid by the state."
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