Femicide

A total of 166 women in Türkiye have fallen victim to femicide in the first half of 2024, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya has informed a parliamentary committee.

The victim of the latest femicide, which took place in the Athens suburb of Menidi on May 16, had not hesitated: She had reported her abusive partner to the police three times since 2013. The authorities had responded all three times; they had identified the assailant and arrested him.

Femicides are becoming so frequent that everyone should have realized by now that dealing with the phenomenon is not about getting one or another department of the state working correctly.

All the different agencies involved need to work together, in a systematic and timely manner, to develop the reflexes so that such crimes can be prevented by adopting specific protocols. 

A 33-year-old man accused of multiple crimes, including rape, against his estranged wife was arrested in Thessaloniki, on Thursday. He is expected to appear before a prosecutor later in the day.

According to the woman's report to the police, her estranged husband went over to her house on Wednesday morning and raped her. He also stole her phone.  

Authorities have received a flurry of reports regarding incidents of domestic violence since Monday. A total of 142 complaints have been filed, resulting in 54 arrests. 

The spike in reports follows the recent femicide in Agioi Anargyroi, where Kyriaki Griva tragically lost her life, allegedly murdered by her former partner right outside the police station. 

The demand for a legislative act that would establish the crime of femicide as a distinct - and more serious - form of homicide has been fueled recently by the brutal murders of women which have featured in the media.

In an op-ed, Kathimerini's female journalists ask what must be done to break the vicious cycle of femicides.

The students of the Music School of Ilion in western Athens held a musical protest on Friday outside the Agioi Anargyroi police station in northern Athens where Kyriaki Griva, 28, was murdered by her former partner on Monday night.

Apathy and a shortage of professionalism and sensitivity can lead to tragedy. The Greek state is wholly unprepared to meet the basic challenges before us. This became evident in the darkest possible way with the recent shocking femicide.

How many femicides and how many "national action plans" on violence against women still need to happen before the police can implement a protocol in cases of complaints like the one in Agioi Anargyroi late Monday night?