Lockdowns imposed in the time of coronavirus have dramatically pushed up incidents of violence against women in Cyprus with a 40% rise in calls seeking help from the Association for the Prevention of Domestic Violence (SPAVO).
The increase in cases has been attributed partly to women being forced to confine themselves at home with their abusers, due to restrictive measures introduced to stem the spread of COVID-19.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, emerging data, and reports from those on the front line, have shown that all types of violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence, has intensified.
According to the police, domestic violence incidents reported increased by 18.3% compared to the whole of 2019 with cases jumping to 1,400 from 1,183 in 2019 and 947 in 2018.
SPAVO director Andri Andronikou told the Financial Mirror: “Home confinement, new working conditions, financial insecurity, the limiting of social contact, gives perpetrators the ‘opportunity’ to impose the dominant role that they think they have over women”.
Andronikou said that the association has so far this year dealt with 2,016 cases of domestic violence, of which 1,163 involved women who had not previously filed a complaint.
“On average our association has attended to 183 cases a month while the number of women and children in safe houses has also increased.
At the moment there are 121 women and 142 children in such houses.”
Andronikou said that SPAVO responding to the UN’s call to unite to end violence against women will be participating in the global campaign under the title “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!”
She said the campaign will focus on amplifying the call for global action to bridge funding gaps, ensure essential services for survivors of violence during the COVID-19 crisis, focus on prevention, and collection of data that can improve life-saving services for women and girls.
The United Nations has called the increase of domestic violence during the coronavirus outbreak, in which the vast majority of victims are women, as the Shadow Pandemic growing amidst the COVID-19 crisis.
The UN has called for a global collective effort to stop this trend.
“As COVID-19 cases continue to strain health services, essential services, such as domestic violence shelters and helplines, have reached capacity.
More needs to be done to prioritize addressing violence against women in COVID-19 response and recovery efforts”, said a UN message.
As in previous years, this year’s International Day will mark the launch of 16 days of activism concluding on 10 December which is International Human Rights Day.
Andronikou said that several public events are being coordinated for this year’s International Day.
“Iconic buildings and landmarks will be ‘oranged’ to highlight the need for a violence-free future.
In Cyprus, political parties, the government, and NGOs have jumped aboard the initiative and some buildings will be ‘oranged’ at 5 pm on Wednesday.”
Andronikou called on abused women to report incidents of domestic violence to the police or the association either through the helpline 1440 or through other communication channels.
She said that women can contact them through their social media accounts, or through a live chat on their web page designed to erase messages at the sender’s end to provide more safety for women.
Not a private matter
Justice Minister Emily Yiolitis in her message marking the day, said: “Violence against women is by no means a private matter.
The denunciation of violence, not its concealment is a self-evident and imposed obligation. It is time for the misconception that harassment and violence against women are socially tolerable and acceptable to be overturned”.
She argued that from the day she took office, the issue of gender-based violence has been high on her priorities list.
“Since last September, the Limassol Police Department has been operating a pilot unit for investigating cases and complaints of Domestic Violence.
The team consists of 10 Police Officers, who deal exclusively with this issue, to be able to respond immediately and effectively in investigating cases of violence,” said Yiolitis.
She said this unit received 84 complaints in September and 96 in October while to date it has made 29 arrests.
“Another such division has been recently set up in Nicosia, consisting of 11 professionals to handle cases of gender and domestic violence as quickly and effectively as possible.”
Yiolitis also said the Ministry supports and actively participates in the Government’s efforts to create the pioneering “House for Women”, a multidisciplinary centre for support and empowerment of abused women.
At a European level, the General Secretary of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić called for zero tolerance for all forms of violence against women, especially during the pandemic, in her message for the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
Noting that lockdowns have proven to be a unique challenge she said: “We must ensure that the renewed restrictions on free movement do not cause further harm to women and children.
However, measures can be taken to ensure that the house will not become a place of fear again”.
Buric said that effective measures to prevent violence against women should be a key part of renewed lockdowns and that continued and secure access to support services such as shelters should be ensured.
