Reporting of domestic violence on the rise in Cyprus

4 July 2008 in Domestic Violence, Europe

Domestic violence is on the increase, with the first three months of 2008 seeing as many incidents reported as the first six months of the year before.

According to the head of the Association for Preventing and Handling Domestic Violence, Aliki Hadjigeorgiou, 80 per cent of calls made to the association’s helpline in 2008 so far were by women, while 15 per cent of callers were men.

Hadjigeorgiou, who was speaking after a meeting with Labour Minister Sotiroula Charalambous, explained that the number of male callers was slowly growing.

And she added that there was a large number of abused children in the family, who had no way of reporting their claims.

She referred to children who may not be physically or personally abused, but were affected by bad relations in their family life, either between their parents or close environment, which also constitutes a form of abuse.

Asked to comment on recent Supreme Court decisions to reduce the sentence of men convicted of sexually abusing minors, Hadjigeorgiou said “We are extremely saddened by the fact that the Supreme Court has made such decisions, I would say Justice is blind, but it doesn’t have the right to provoke public emotions.”

She added, “On the other hand, I would like to stress that our country has excellent laws on domestic violence and these laws should be respected and implemented.”

Referring to her meeting with the Minister, Hadjigeorgiou said she had informed Charalambous on the various problems and difficulties her association was facing, especially in the financial sector.

“The financial issue cannot be resolved totally with state funding; the Association must try to find income from its own activities,” she pointed out, adding, however, that this was a hard task.

Minister Charalambous said her ministry and especially the Social Services were actively implicated in domestic violence cases, offering support to victims from the moment the complaint is made until it reaches the courtroom.

“There are family advisers, who are appointed to take on these cases,” Charalambous explained, adding that the restructuring of the Services was considered a must in order to deal with the problem.

The minister promised to continue supporting the Association with state funding.

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=39942&cat_id=1