The decision of the plenary session of the Parliament, dated July 7, to include the offence of femicide in the legislation as a separate offence in the Law on the Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence 2021, welcomes, in a statement, the Association for the Prevention and Handling of Violence in the Family (SPAVO), noting that the inclusion of femicide in the legislation has already brought about social change.
It also congratulates the President of the Parliament for the initiative, the MPs who voted in favour and all the NGOs and women's organisations that contributed.
She also reports that thousands of women who turn to SPAVO's services and who have survived enduring and systematic abuse by current/former partners/spouses report that they were at greater risk of losing their lives to the abuser when they decided to leave, seek divorce, and resist the abuse.
SPAVO notes that with this decision the Parliament has already achieved a significant social change since it has acknowledged the result of the culmination of a series of acts of violence against women, it has conceptualized and named the crime of killing women due to systematic abuse, it has given visibility to the real causes behind this crime.
Finally, he adds that the next day of the inclusion of femicide as a specific offence in the legislation is expected to bring about a number of developments that contribute to the importance of this decision, since among them, the achievement of comprehensive, up-to-date and comparable data stands out, the creation of an official Register of Femicide, the registration of a national number of cases, the creation of better tools for sanctions, the design and implementation of Rational and Operational Prevention and Response Measures, the establishment of improved research procedures, and public policy decisions.
Source: CNA
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
