A fruitful dialogue developed in the context of the debate organised by the Centre for Gender and Equality Policy Studies (KE.ME.F.I.) on the subject of «Female infanticide in Greece: The use of the term and the dimensions of the phenomenon». In her introductory statement, the Member of Parliament for Athens of the New Democracy and President of the Board of Directors of KE.ME.F.I., Mrs. Olga Kefalogianni noted that «official figures from the UN and the European Union show that the coronavirus pandemic brought a second pandemic, the sharp increase in cases of gender and domestic violence». Specifically, as she said, «in terms of femicides, in 2020 in 10 of the EU member states, 444 cases of women murdered by their partners were recorded by the European Institute for Gender Equality,» but in Greece «2021 was a sad year in terms of the increase in gender violence in its most extreme form, as 17 women were murdered.» «Young women, mothers, partners, wives, former partners and husbands were victims of extreme male hatred. Especially in 2021, every incident of murder of a woman related to her gender brought us closer to relentless questions,» Kefalogiannis commented, adding that «in the intense concern about the intensity of the phenomenon and in the reflection on its containment, the issue of the legal recognition of the term femicide is one of the key cutting-edge issues.».
As Kefalogiannis pointed out, «the European Institute for Gender Equality has given a general definition of the term that refers to murders of women and girls because of their gender. The Vienna Declaration on Femicide of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) defines something similar. However, the question arises whether from these definitions, or from the sociological use of the term traced back many decades, or even from the general social pulse, the introduction of the term femicide can be substantiated on a legal basis.» The ND MP stressed that the approach to the issue must be interdisciplinary as «the contribution of all scientific disciplines that study and deal with the phenomenon is catalytic for the formulation of policies to deal with it».
«We know that gender-related intentional homicides against women are, more often than not, the extreme manifestation of a pre-existing and ongoing abusive behaviour of a male partner against them. On this basis, many countries in Central and Latin America have now incorporated the concept into their legal system, creating a particularly important legal and political field of discussion», said Mrs Kefalogianni, adding that in Europe, as in Greece, «the public debate has begun to be enriched with arguments and proposals for legislative responses to the phenomenon». However, as the ND MP stressed for our country, «we must point out that the legal arsenal against gender-based violence has been strengthened considerably, especially after the latest amendments to the Criminal Code. This fact, in addition to the suppression of these crimes, certainly strengthens their prevention».
Kefalogianni insisted that in any case, «in addition to the criminal treatment of gender-based crimes, and in this case femicide, we must insist on the adoption and implementation of specific policies against stereotypical attitudes and practices that maintain even today patriarchy against gender equality and equal rights for women», stressing that «this is where the basic root of all phenomena of gender-based violence can be found even today. Even the most extreme ones».
Kefalogiannis identified the «central axis» for addressing violence against women as «strengthening the deterrents of these crimes». With education and awareness-raising against gender violence from an early age. From the family and school. By strengthening and expanding the role of victim protection structures. With the right approach by experienced and trained scientific staff, social workers, psychologists and lawyers. To give strength and security to women victims to report in time. Before it is too late.".
«It is now certain that the pandemic has acted as a regressive factor in the field of gender equality and the elimination of violence against women,» said the Athens MP, adding that ’today we are all talking about the next day for which we must be optimistic« but »when there are women next to us who fear for their physical integrity, fear for their lives, the positive step of recognizing and naming the problem is not enough in itself.« »The problem is not new but it is growing,« Kefalogianni said, noting that »we need to develop a comprehensive, coherent policy on violence against women. Institutionally, legislatively, together with civil society, in dialogue with the scientific community. Life without fear is an inalienable human right and we must safeguard it together. The benefits will be manifold, for women and their families, for the progress of our economy and our society.«.
Anita Demetriou, President of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus: Now more than ever it must take on its proper dimensions and become visible as a crime that primarily affects human rights
The Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus expressed her thanks for the opportunity to speak on «the major and controversial issue of femicide, the use of the term femicide by the legal world and the multi-layered dimensions of a growing phenomenon which must no longer remain within the narrow confines of the crimes of the traditional criminal code». «Now more than ever it must take on its proper dimensions and be made visible as a crime that primarily affects human rights,» she said. Demetriou, adding that «the importance of the adoption of the term gynecide in legal thought and theory and consequently the adoption of the corresponding offence of the legal order of civilized countries is not a new issue, as of course the ever-increasing phenomenon of gynecide, which both you in Greece, in Cyprus and throughout Europe and internationally we have experienced in recent years with unprecedented intensity.».
«Already in the United States of America the debate on the need to define the term femicide and the usefulness of defining a separate crime in relation to the murder of a woman by a man because of her gender, among other things, for purposes including but not limited to the effective investigation and bringing to justice of male victims of misogynistic crimes against women, dates back some decades, with the feminist Russell having made use of the term as early as 1976,» Ms. Demetriou, explaining that in 12, at a special UN symposium on the issue of defining the term femicide, which resulted in the signing of the Vienna Declaration, ’it was stressed that femicides are rarely properly investigated and rarely brought to justice due to lack of evidence, since crimes of this nature are committed in the family as phenomena that are perfectly acceptable to local communities.« »The debate on the now urgent need for the term femicide to be incorporated into the legal orders of our countries and for criminal law to be imbued with a gender dimension in response to the sad phenomena of male violence against women and young girls, and this by establishing the corresponding offence of the same name which reflects the gender dimension of crimes committed against women precisely because they are women, as a result of, among other things, religious beliefs, domestic violence, dependency relationships or exploitation of a vulnerable position or for reasons of honour, is not only topical in the wake of the latest feminicides,« she stressed. Demetriou, continuing that it is »both necessary and urgent, especially now, precisely because every dystopia, every reflection, every regression reinforces and breeds unacceptable stereotypical perceptions, covers with guilty silence the deeply stereotypical societies in which we unfortunately live and removes in an artful way and mainly pretentiously the need to categorize this crime, the identification of the phenomenon and, consequently, the development and cultivation of the empathy that will contribute to the elimination of all the obstacles that deprive women of the equal enjoyment of their rights.
Regarding violence against women, Demetriou stressed that «in reality no one could deny that statistically the majority of murders committed in the societies of countries are not really femicides. They are crimes brought about by patriarchal societies and the stereotypical attendant stereotypes, at the core of which is the deep belief that every woman, every young girl, is the property of her father, her husband, her partner».
«The refusal of a society to face this sad reality, seen from its political point of view, can only consist of the sad but visible intention to maintain the entrenched social stereotypes that want women to be weak, vulnerable, vulnerable, apparently for purposes other than their own,» Ms Demetriou stressed. As the Speaker of the House of Representatives informed, «the issue of the establishment of the offence of femicide in the Cypriot legal order has been raised by my legislative initiative in the Parliament and has been referred to the competent committee. The debate is currently in progress. ’The aim is to establish a separate offence of its own by amending the Penal Code so that the murder of a woman or a girl under 18 in accordance with the relevant terms of the Istanbul Convention, under specially defined aggravating circumstances counted in the imposition of the sentence or as a result of specific cases of violence, dependency as a constituent element of the crime constitutes the offence of femicide,» she said.
Demetriou noted that «there have been similar reactions as to the constituent elements of the crime and more specifically whether the solution already sought would be more appropriate to take the form of aggravating circumstances in the calculation of the sentence. There were, of course, legitimate concerns, of course, due to the loose or non-existent connection of the female gender with the law, the complete absence of the gender dimension in the Criminal Code and the well-known positions of traditional positivists», as «as in Greece, as in Cyprus, the equality of women with men has traditionally referred only to equal rights, equal responsibilities and equal share in power. Any other deeper approach that approaches and in this case touches on criminal law is rejected out of hand, without taking into account how the values and needs of the female gender should be incorporated into the law. In this regard, in what way criminal law could primarily make women visible and distinguish them. Consequently, from victims to make them effectively quasi subjects of law in the criminal sphere and to balance the fact that law is downwardly masculine and not friendly to women.».
However, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus stressed, «a right which is not capable of interpreting femicide as an urgent social necessity as a separate offence, thus making visible the fact that the murder of a woman in most cases is due to the gender of the victim and the historically unequal power relations between women and men, which mark violence towards women as violence accepted precisely because it is based on the boyfriend, placing the woman and the girl in a subordinate position, will be nothing but a wrongful law, a law that is outdated and unilateral, a law that does not respond to the needs of contemporary social reality, which has set itself the goal of developing the legal concept of empathy as the main factor in achieving equal enjoyment of the rights of all - men and women.».
«It is for all these reasons that all of us are called upon now more than ever to rise to the occasion and remain vigilant so that the conceptualization of femicide as a crime against women precisely because of their gender and its full incorporation into our criminal code as a separate offence, to mark the beginning of a new approach to equality between women and men, which will infuse legal thinking on several levels, particularly in the field of criminal justice, making criminal law capable of meeting the demands of the times as a criminal law of human rights», concluded Ms. Anita Demetriou concluded.
Vasso Colla: When we tolerate the violation of women's human rights, we accept a society with a democratic deficit
Coordinating the event on behalf of KE.ME.F.I., the former Secretary General for Equality and former Secretary General for Youth, Ms Vasso Kollias, described as «nightmarish the number of 17 femicides in our country, only for 2021». «Women are hurt mentally and physically, trapped in torturous intimate relationships. Relationships that follow the vicious cycle of violence and remorse from the perpetrator, despair and acceptance from the victim. It is neither rare nor difficult to slip into such a dark emotional trap. It is a trap for all of us, without social, economic or cultural limitations», underlined Mrs. Colla, demonstrating that according to the available statistics the profile of both abusers and victims is extremely wide.
«Unfortunately, the figures show that abusive relationships with women are an acceptable way of life for many of our fellow men. But this situation worsened during the health pandemic, which revealed what some of us have been talking about for years, namely the existence of a parallel and timeless pandemic, which is brewing behind closed doors and closed mouths, that of extreme sexism and gender violence that results in femicide,» said Ms. As she said, this is obviously not a Greek phenomenon but an international scourge, in fact, according to a UN study, «in 2020, 81,000 women and girls were murdered worldwide. In fact, about 47,000 were murdered by a partner or family member».
Ms.Colla explained that the aim of the discussion is to approach the issue «interdisciplinarily» in order to «understand the nature of the problem, the ways of dealing with it» and to explore «the necessity or not of adopting the term femicide as a separate offence in the homicide prosecution chapter of the Criminal Code». «Obviously, the issue is not about sentencing, but the use of the term and its adoption makes the problem visible and contributes to the creation of a collective consciousness and responsibility towards it. In other words, it works effectively in both prevention and response», she stressed, adding that «the establishment of the term gives due seriousness to the violation of women's human rights, with a strong semantic and symbolic impact». «Violence against women is a major problem that significantly affects the whole of society, men, women and children. It is an obstacle to development, both economic, social, political and cultural. It is a black mark on our education and on our culture. When we tolerate the violation of women's human rights, we accept a society with a democratic deficit and this concerns us all», concluded Mrs Colla.
The debate was organised with the support of the Hellenic Business Association and the LSE Alumni Association, on behalf of which Mrs.Mai Zanni gave a short address, underlining that the problem of gender violence «is rightly of great concern to society». «There is progress, we have stopped talking about crimes of passion», said Zanni, adding that there is no longer social tolerance towards the phenomenon, since there is an increase in the number of incidents, but this is also explained by the increase in the number of complaints, i.e. they are now visible because «women are now speaking out, and rightly so».
On the question of the necessity of introducing the term «femicide» into the legal culture, offering arguments both in favour and against this view, as well as on the social and psychiatric implications of gender violence, Ms. Anna Karamoschoglou, Deputy Prosecutor of Appeal, Mr Thanos Askitis, Professor of Psychiatry and President of I.Ps.S.Y. and Ms Athanasia Hallari, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Northampton. The video of the event is available at: https://youtu.be/vQU5-UWzruA
