In his address to a conference on Bullying, Stefanou said that whenever an incident of bullying is brought up in public debate, everyone immediately calls on the victims to speak out, while asking "how easy it is for a victim, especially if they are a minor, to speak out" and "how easy it is for adults to speak out and ultimately succeed in winning such cases".
"It is our job, the job of political parties, organisations and those who have intervention to ensure that the conditions and data are in place to deal with the phenomenon and, above all, to prevent it," he said.
He noted that "we must always bear in mind that in a society where institutions are in question it is difficult for victims and witnesses to speak out," adding that "then, one by one, we must see concrete steps to prevent and combat the phenomenon."
According to the Secretary General of AKEL, "unfortunately, in this area too, the government of the Democratic Rally is taking an unacceptable grade", to add that "one year after the adoption of the relevant legislation, a National Advisory Committee on issues of domestic violence has still not been set up".
"Worst of all," he stressed, "it was revealed in Parliament that the Minister responsible did not even know of the existence of the legislation. There was no mention of appointing educational psychologists to staff the understaffed service in schools. It was never a priority for the Government."
He also said that "according to the evidence presented to the relevant Parliamentary Committee, two letters with recommendations on these issues have reached the Ministry of Education from the Commissioner for the Protection of Children's Rights in the last two years, which remain unanswered." to add that "since 2015, seven years ago, a circular was circulated with recommendations for the development of regulations on bullying for students and parents and the creation of a sub-committee for the management of bullying phenomena, without being implemented to date."
He concluded by saying that "when we say stop bullying we call on the victims to speak out, we call on the witnesses to speak out and support the victims, but most importantly, we call on the state, the government to take action, to adopt policies, to finally see the problem and provide solutions."
Source: KYPE
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