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Gender-based violence in Greece
Women and discrimination - Local Life
How has the phenomenon evolved in recent years?
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by Anna Bellisario
What is Gender-based violence and which measures has taken the country to prevent and combat gender-based violence in the last years?
According to the article 3 of The Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, also called Istanbul Convention Istanbul, gender-based violence is: “a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination against women, including all acts of violence based on gender which cause or are likely to cause harm or suffering of a physical, sexual, psychological or economic nature, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, both in public and private life”.
The Istanbul Convention is certainly a point of reference at the international level for combating violence against women and it was adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 7 April 2011 and opened for signature on 11 May 2011 at the 121st session of the Committee of Ministers in Istanbul. The Convention entered into force in 2014.
This is the first international legally binding instrument which defines the forms of violence against women and designs a comprehensive legal framework, policies and measures for preventing and combacting violence against women, protecting the victims and ending the impunity of the perpetrators.
Greece ratified the Istanbul Convention under the Law 4531/2018 and it entered into force in October of the same year. However, in the country there is no specific law on violence against women but only some specific forms of violence against women such as rape, sexual assault and domestic violence are covered by the criminal code.
Source: https://www.coe.int/en/web/istanbul-convention/text-of-the-convention
The General Secretariat for Family Policy and Gender Equality GSFPGE is actually the governmental agency competent to plan, implement, and monitor the implementation of policies on equality between women and men in all sectors. Since 2010 the GSFPGE has developed and continues to implement the National Programme on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women.
In particular, in 2010 has been created for the first time a comprehensive Network of Structures for preventing and tackling all forms of violence against women which includes:
-The national SOS 15900 24-hour helpline which operates 24/7, 365 days a year and provides counseling services in both Greek and English;
- 42 Counseling Centers throughout the Country where victims of gender-based violence can receive the following services: updates and information on gender equality, combating violence and multiple discriminations against women; social, psychological, legal and employability support (using a gender lens); referral or accompaniment services when necessary to Women’s Shelters, police and prosecution authorities, courts, hospitals, health and mental health centers, social services for welfare or other benefits, to structures for the promotion of employment and entrepreneurship and to structures for the protection and support of children, legal aid, in cooperation with bar associations;
- 20 Women’s Shelters which provide accommodation and food to women victims of gender-based violence and their children, psychosocial support, occupation and legal counseling services via the Counseling Centers and also facilitate access to health services and school enrolment.
In Greece is currently into force the National Action Plan for Gender Inequality (NAPGE) 2021-2025 which is organized around four priority axes, each spotlighting a specific thematic dimension of gender equality policies.
The theme of preventing and eliminating social stereotypes, prejudices, and discrimination is integrated and highlighted in all four priority axes and in all thematic policies, objectives, and actions. The priority axis 1 aims to eliminate gender and domestic violence, the priority axis 2 involves equal access to leadership positions and decision making roles, the priority axis 3 promotes equal participation in the workplace (labor force), and the priority axis 4 promotes gender mainstreaming in sectoral policies.
The evolution of gender-based violence in Greece through the annual reports on violence against women by the General Secretariat for Family Policy and Gender Equality
The 1st Annual Report On Violence Against Women elaborated by the General Secretariat for Family Policy and Gender Equality (GSFPGE) is the first attempt to comprehensively present the phenomenon of violence against women in Greece and to reflect the actions implemented at an institutional level regarding the prevention, combating and elimination GBV.
The framework on gender-based violence presented by the same report is based on data analysis from the period November 2019-October 2020, using the database of the Hellenic Agency for Local Development and Local Government (EETAA) and the database kept by the 15900 24/7 SOS Support Helpline.
According to data reported, during the period November 2019-October 2020, the Counseling Centres of the GSFPGE Network throughout Greece provided support to a total of 4872 women victims of gender-based violence and multiple discrimination, as well as to third parties (i.e. mother, adult daughter of the victim).
In particular, for all eleven reference months the region of Attica was the one with the highest percentage of supported women by the Counseling Centers amounting to 38.50%. The city of Komotini, in Thrace, registered instead the lowest percentage of assisted women amounting to 1.40%
Source: 1st Annual Report On Violence Against Women by the General Secretariat for Family Policy and Gender Equality
In addition, data show that in the period November 2019-October 2020 the most common form of GBV was domestic violence amounting to 84% of the total reported cases of all forms of GBV in the Counseling Centers throughout Greece. Sexual harassment and rape followed with 2%, Other forms of GBV was amounting to 4% while 8% was without data.
Source: 1st Annual Report On Violence Against Women by the General Secretariat for Family Policy and Gender Equality
The relationship between the victim and the perpetrator was mostly spousal (current and former) amounting to 56% as well as by partners (current and former) amounting to 13% while 12% of the total women victims of GBV who received support by the Counseling Centers of the GSFPGE Network of Structures reported that the perpetrator was a family member (i.e. brother, father, or other relative).
Source: 1st Annual Report On Violence Against Women by the General Secretariat for Family Policy and Gender Equality
As for the age groups of the women victims and third parties who received specialized support services at the Counseling Centers of the Network during this period the highest percentage were women between 36-45 years old amounting to 29%. The age groups of women 26-35 years old and women 46-55 years old were 19% of the total respectively. The 9% of the total were young women below 25 years old. Women over 60 years old were 8%, while 11% of the total didn’t provide information regarding their age.
Source: 1st Annual Report On Violence Against Women by the General Secretariat for Family Policy and Gender Equality
It’s important to remember that in Greece, the word femicide began to be the focus of public debate only recently after a murder case in 2018 involving Eleni Topaloudi, 21 years old, who was brutally raped and killed on the Greek island of Rhodes and for how it was handled by the prosecutor to whom it was assigned.
In addition, the attention to the phenomenon has increased with the arrival of the #MeToo movement in Greece and the increase in cases of domestic violence during the lockdown.
The data in the following table shows that in 2020 as in 2019 8 women were murdered in Greece by a member of their families, while in 2018 the murders of women by a member of their families amounted to 13.
Specifically, for 2020 the percentage of femicides by a family member of the victim amounted to 44.4% while out of the 18 murders with a women victim femicides amount to 8. Instead for 2010 the percentage of femicides by a family member of the victim amounted to 33.3% while out of the 33 murders with a women victim femicides amount to 11.
Source: 2nd Annual Report On Violence Against Women by the General Secretariat for Family Policy and Gender Equality
During the reference period November 2020-October 2021, the CCs of the GSDFPGE Network throughout Greece provided support to a total of 4767 women survivors of violence and multiple discrimination (4359), as well as to third parties (408) who mostly received useful information.
For all eleven reference months the region of Attica was the one with the highest percentage of supported women by the Counseling Centers amounting to 39.20%. The city of Mytilene, in Lesbos, instead registered the lowest percentage of assisted women amounting to 1.28%
Source: 2nd Annual Report On Violence Against Women by the General Secretariat for Family Policy and Gender Equality
The most prevalent type of GBV, with reference to the period November 2020-October 2021, was domestic violence amounting to 85% of all GBV reported cases, followed by 3% for sexual harassment cases and 2% for rape cases. Other forms of GBV was amounting to 4% while 6% were without data.
The relationship between the survivor and the perpetrator was mostly spousal amounting to 58% and intimate amounting to 15% while 11% concerned another family member (i.e. brother, father, or other relative).
Source: 2nd Annual Report On Violence Against Women by the General Secretariat for Family Policy and Gender Equality
As for the age groups of women survivors of GBV who received specialized services at the Counseling Centers of the Network during the reference period, the highest percentage amounting to 29% were women aged between 36-45 years old, followed by the age groups between 46-55 years old amounting to 21% and between 26-35 years old amounting to 20%. The 9% of the total were young women below 25 years old, 5% of women belonged to the age group of 56-60 years old, while 8% of the total were women over 60 years old. The remaining 8% of the total women survivors didn’t provide information.
Source: 2nd Annual Report On Violence Against Women by the General Secretariat for Family Policy and Gender Equality
Comparing the data reported by the two annual reports on violence against women elaborated by the General Secretariat for Family Policy and Gender Equality, with reference to the periods November 2019-October 2020 and November 2020-October 2021, it emerged that the most prevalent type of GBV was domestic violence with a percentage that has risen from 84% up to 85%.
In addition, data showed how the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator was mostly spousal (current and former) amounting to 56% during the period November 2019-October 2020 and 58% for the period November 2020-October 2021.
About the age groups of the women victims and third parties who received specialized support services at the Counseling Centers of the Network during the reference periods the highest percentage were women between 36-45 years old amounting to 29%.
Despite significant efforts made in recent years by the institutions to combat gender based violence, the greek society remains mainly patriarchal with women who continue to be severely discriminated against and abused.
In this context, the inclusion of femicide in the penal code remains the most effective instrument to prevent and contrast GBV and also to facilitate monitoring of this phenomenon and finding adequate measures for its prevention, quick responses, adequate investigation and the prosecution and punishment of perpetrators.
As lawyers said this action would be the most important misure to prevent the perpetrators of crime from having reduced penalties and also to be able to justify themselves as innocent by saying that they were suddenly overcome by emotion that justified murder.
