Government to sign domestic violence convention

PARLIAMENT on Monday welcomed a government decision to sign the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women.

The move came as MPs at the House human rights committee heard that the Cyprus Association for the Prevention and Handling of Violence in the Family dealt with 812 incidents during the first six months of 2014.

Over 300 were new cases and 102 involved minors. In 35 incidents, the victims were taken to a shelter for their protection.

In 56 per cent of cases victims were either wives or partners while 84 per cent had been subjected to domestic violence repeatedly.

Committee chairman Sophocles Fyttis said 78 per cent of the complaints involved Cypriot citizens. In 78 per cent of the cases the assailants were male and 16 per cent female.

Committee members expressed concern over the delay in signing the Istanbul Convention, and Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou said his ministry was waiting for comments from the legal services on any possible concerns or objections relating to the signing before going ahead.
The Convention went into force on August 1.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.