The House of Representatives by 38 votes for and 4 against passed into law the establishment of the offence of femicide, which carries the penalty of life imprisonment.
Speaker of Parliament Anita Demetriou, who introduced the Prevention and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and Related Matters (Amendment) (No. 2) Law of 2022) and the Criminal Code (Amendment) (No. 5) Law of 2021, said that we are not touching the Criminal Code, but after listening to all the reflections and advice of competent persons, it was decided to amend the Law on Violence against Women, which is the Istanbul Convention, by including a specific offence which is femicide and in this way "the legislature will give visibility to a socially alarming reality".
Citing figures, he said that femicide was 9 in 2019, 5 in 2020, 1 in 2022 "and the year is not over yet." "Each number corresponds to a woman," he said, noting the gendered dimension of this violence. "They all died because they were women, by men they trusted, who exercised power over them," she continued."
DISY MP Rita Superman said that motive is an integral element in sentencing. It is not about feminism but about human rights, she added. The characterization of femicide, he said, constitutes an act of resistance to a social reality and noted that especially now we are more concerned because there has been a global increase in pandemic femicide.
AKEL MP Andreas Pasiourtidis expressed some concerns of a legal nature and grey areas, as he said, but said that perhaps the legislative proposals are a weapon in our quiver, noting that anything we do towards raising awareness is important.
DIKO MP Christiana Erotokritou said that violence against women, which as a rule is domestic and sexual, is a form of discrimination. She described the proposed law as very correct and said that we are discussing the aggravating factor taken into account by the court in imposing the sentence.
DIKO MP Chrisis Pantelidis said that violence against women should not only be a problem for women but also for people of the whole society. Today's legislation, he said, is another step for us all to recognize the magnitude of the problem so that we can support the victims who dared and dare to speak up to encourage the victims who have not yet spoken up and eliminate this phenomenon.
ELAM MP Sotiris Ioannou said that ELAM defends gender equality and has proved it with proposed laws such as the ban on the Islamic headscarf which symbolizes the subjugation of women. Murder carries the maximum penalty so apart from something symbolic we do not believe that it will solve the social problems facing Cyprus, he said.
DPA MP Alekkos Tryfonides said that after the pandemic there was a rapid increase around the world with Cyprus being no exception. Femicide is the result of unequal power relations between women and men and an extreme expression of violence that women face coming from their close family environment, he said.
Ecologist MP Alexandra Attalidou said that femicide is the intentional homicide of women because they are women and is the most violent manifestation of gender discrimination and inequality.
Independent MP Andreas Themistocleous said that women and men both murder and are murdered and that homicide is the term that fully covers both victims and perpetrators. He also said that most victims in the homicide sector have been men in the last decade. "Our laws say that intentional murder the punishment is life imprisonment. So what are we discussing now?" he asked."
According to the Report of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs, the purpose of the law is to amend the Law on the Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and Related Matters [NO. N. 115(I) OF 2021] which enacted a special legislative framework for the purpose of better implementing the provisions of the legally ratified Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (hereinafter referred to as the "Istanbul Convention"), in order to establish the specific offence of femicide, which carries a penalty of life imprisonment.
Source: CNA
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