Members of the Parliamentary Committee welcomed the establishment of the Coordinating Body, which will monitor and coordinate the action of the parties involved in dealing with crimes against women victims in Cyprus. They particularly welcomed the appointment of Aristos Tsiartas as Chairperson of the Coordinating Body, whose experience in human rights issues, as an Officer of the Office of the Commissioner for Administration, was considered to be valuable in his new role.
The Minister of Justice, Stefi Drakou, who attended the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee, said that important steps had been taken at the level of legislation, but that several steps still needed to be taken for the smooth implementation of the legislation and stressed that the establishment of the Coordinating Body would contribute in this direction.
As Mr Tsiartas said, the Coordinating Body, whose establishment was approved on 3 March by the Council of Ministers, includes representatives from all state departments involved, as well as NGO representatives. (Ministry of Justice), Maria Tsiogou (Ministry of Health), Chrystalla Korta (Ministry of Education), Tania Charalambidou (Ministry of Interior), Evi Nikolaou (Police), Angela Ioakim (Public Services (Ministry of Public Administration)), Niki Nikolaou (Ministry of Justice), Maria Tsiogou (Ministry of Health), Christalla Korta (Ministry of Education), Tania Charalambidou (Ministry of Interior), Evi Nikolaou (Police), Angela Ioakim (Ministry of Public Services), Evi Nikolaou (Ministry of Justice), Angela Ioakim (Ministry of Public Administration). Welfare Services), Panagiotis Messios (Cyprus Association of Social Workers) and Andri Andronikou (Association for the Prevention and Handling of Violence in the Family).
The discussion in the Committee focused on two reservations maintained by the Republic of Cyprus with regard to the adoption of the Istanbul Convention, which concern, on the one hand, the responsibility of the State to compensate a victim in case of serious disability following gender violence and, on the other hand, the autonomous residence permit of a foreign spouse who has been a victim of gender violence. Regarding the first reservation, Ms. Drakou said that it was a purely financial issue and the financial study done at the time needed to be updated to see whether the Republic of Cyprus could now cover the relevant budget. Regarding the second reservation, she said that the issue will be examined together with the Ministry of Interior and stakeholders to explore safeguards to ensure that this provision is not exploited to cover up white marriages. In her intervention, a representative of the Women's Movement of Ecologists, Alexia Sakadaki, argued that since the Republic of Cyprus agrees through the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights, economic factors or the origin of the victim should not be criteria. Justice also referred to the need to map incidents of gender-based violence, which, she said, is on the rise due to the pandemic crisis, and stressed the need to evaluate police protocols for dealing with such incidents in order to be in line with the provisions of the Istanbul Convention. She added that the aim is that through each step of the process "the victim of gender violence should feel that she receives the right treatment, in conditions of confidentiality, psychological support, with information and guidance on issues related to her rights, in order to claim what the legislation offers", the Minister explained in her statements after the meeting.
Drakou also said that the revision of the protocols includes the provision for the presence of a woman in the handling of cases of gender-based violence against women. "We have proceeded to set up special squads in all provinces within the police so that intervention is immediate and more effective," she said.
Responding to a reporter's question about measures to address the phenomena of problematic handling of cases, such as that of the British woman, by members of the police, the Minister replied that this is precisely why the police echelons in all provinces are staffed by appropriate people with the right specialties to deal with these issues.
She also referred to the creation of the multidisciplinary Women's House, "which is staffed by a well-trained personnel".
During the discussion in the Committee, it was stressed by both MPs and representatives of women's organisations that there is a need for other structures covering all cases of women victims of violence (and not only domestic violence), as well as the elaboration of support mechanisms for women after they leave the structures.
"We do not need further legislation", said the Minister, stressing that "what we need is a change of culture and this is not a matter of women, but of society."
"We do not need further legislation", said the Minister, stressing that "what we need is a change of culture and this is not a matter of women, but of society". In this area, she explained that cooperation with NGOs is important. She expressed confidence that the "leap forward", as she said, in recent years on issues related to gender-based violence, inspires optimism that the goal of full implementation of the provisions of the Istanbul Convention will also be achieved.
This, he said, is supported by the preliminary findings of the GREVIO monitoring mechanism, which during its visit to Cyprus found "significant progress made in this direction, both in terms of the legislative framework and in terms of substantive and administrative changes and measures taken to support and protect victims of gender-based violence". "We are waiting for the final results and certainly GREVIO's recommendations are taken seriously," concluded Drakou, saying that "what has been achieved gives us courage and strength to believe that we will reach the final goal."
In her intervention at the meeting, however, a representative of the Pancyprian Federation of Women's Organizations (POGO), Eleni Evagorou, pointed out that for eleven months since the signing of the Convention no step had been taken to implement it, with the Coordinating Body only recently established. She added that the situation in competent services related to the handling of cases of gender-based violence is still very problematic, since POGO is aware of cases of women who have fled to Police Stations, but instead of support they have received orders not to proceed with complaints and return to their homes.
The meeting was also attended by the Minister of Education, Prodromos Prodromou, who was invited to inform about the efforts made in terms of education of students and training of teachers. In statements after the meeting, he said that "the key to progress on these issues is prevention, so that younger generations have the right foundations."
"In schools, we are systematically trying, both through curricula and teacher training programmes, to give the right role models to children, to shape from an early age the characters of tomorrow's citizens, who will have the right principles and directions in matters of citizenship, behavior and gender equality," he said, noting that the systematization of sex education, in cooperation with NGOs, also contributes to this direction, with the aim of "better awareness among women for self-protection, but also among men and women for mutual respect and proper relations between the sexes," he said. She added that the Ministry is developing a series of workshops, from pre-primary to high school, with skills functions, including on sex education.
She also explained that the Pedagogical Institute is running a series of programmes to train teachers, focusing on the management of sexism, gender-based violence in the school environment, bullying with a focus on gender and ethnicity issues. "We are trying to equip all teachers so that they can in turn pass it on to children from an early age, to mould characters in order to reduce the incidents of abuse of women, which we are indeed concerned about," she said.
The President of the Committee and AKEL MP, Irene Charalambidou, said that the establishment of the Coordinating Body is an important step, but much more needs to be done. "We want to credit everyone with good intentions," she said. Welcoming the appointment of Aristos Tsiartas to the position of President of the Coordinating Body, she expressed optimism that he will contribute to its functioning "both in terms of prevention and supervision, which will be recorded in biannual reports to the Minister of Justice and sent to our Committee for information."
He also said that a mapping of the problem is needed, showing to what extent gender-based violence extends, how many incidents occur each year, which ones have been dealt with, which ones have been brought to court, how many convictions there have been. He agreed with the Minister's note on the evaluation of the protocols, saying that "unfortunately, there seems to be a particular weakness in the implementation of the protocols mainly on the part of the police but also the Ministry of Health" and stressed that "the approach of all agencies and services involved must be victim-centred".
He also referred to the reservations maintained by the Republic of Cyprus, which will be lifted in 2023, and stressed that "the fear of deportation cannot be a deterrent to reporting gender-based violence", the possibility of a foreign woman being deported if she reports her husband for violence. He said issues also exist in relation to legal aid to victims, saying that "it would be tragic if even one victim cannot assert her rights in court due to the rejection of a request for legal aid."
He concluded that "there are many laws covering the issue of gender-based violence, there is a good intention to implement it, but we have not yet reached the goal, which is the absolute protection of the victim."
DISY MP Rita Theodorou-Superman
stressed at the meeting that the Coordinating Body should have a supervisory character and its recommendations should be binding on the services. In her statements after the meeting, she welcomed "the creation of the Body and other mechanisms such as the special units for handling issues of gender-based violence in the police". In response to a reporter's question regarding the ability of the body to be informed about the difficulties faced by victims of gender-based violence, she replied that the body should establish protocols of cooperation with various organizations to be able to monitor the issues comprehensively.
"The implementation of the Convention is not a women's issue. It is a matter of the society in which we live and it concerns all of us," she said and expressed her satisfaction with the commitment of the President of the Body, as well as the Minister for its full implementation.[BRP]The Member of Parliament for Okologos, Alexandra Attalidou, made three remarks following the briefing given at the meeting. She said, "The Women's House only deals with domestic violence, and violence can come from outside the family, so violence should be included in general in the government's plans to combat it."
He also stressed that the implementation of laws, regulations and protocols "falls far short of protecting victims of violence and giving them real protection and legal aid" and added that the government has a lot to do to get to where we want to be. He also expressed the hope that the exceptions arising from the two reservations of the Republic of Cyprus will soon be settled, stressing that the Ecologists' Movement considers them unacceptable.
"I think that there should be an investigation within the police, based on the case of the British woman and other cases where women's complaints were rejected, because we need to examine the culture and the climate that prevails in the police, the weaknesses that need to be overcome in order to reach the point where victims feel safe when they go to the police," he concluded.
"We consider the full implementation of the Istanbul Convention for the protection of victims of gender-based violence important, as we are no longer dealing with isolated incidents," said DIPA MP Alekos Tryfonidis, in a statement after the meeting. "We welcome the creation of the Coordinating Body and believe that its role will be catalytic for the full implementation of the Convention," he added. He said that there is a problem in the observance of protocols, there is an issue of implementation of laws and also in the culture, and said that the state in immediate solutions. "We condemn all forms of violence against women and support all efforts to eliminate them," he concluded."
Source: CNA
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