By Evie Andreou
TWENTY five women who were pregnant fell victims of domestic violence and sought help last year, the Association for the Prevention and Handling of Violence in the Family (SPAVO) said on Wednesday marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
According to SPAVO data, released during an awareness campaign organised by the Office of the Ombudsman and the Cyprus International Institute of Management (CIIM), between January 2014 and January 2015, a total of 25 pregnant women sought help from the group and some of them were also given shelter.
Six out of ten victims do not report their abuse to the police, “while one in ten withdraws the complaint made”, the SPAVO report said, adding that two out of three women hosted in shelters are foreign nationals.
As regards minors, it said that 70 per cent of the victims seeking help have children who have witnessed domestic violence in their family. It added that child victims are 27 per cent more likely to be victims of domestic violence in their adult life, while the chances of being abused repeatedly before they seek help reaches 80 per cent. Furthermore, 17 per cent of victims will exert violence to his or her own children when they have a family of their own.
Marios Nikolaou from SPAVO said that if domestic abuse cases were announced similarly to those of road accidents, “we would hear daily about three to five incidents of domestic violence”.
Ombudsman Eliza Savvidou said that violence against women has been described as the most widespread violation of human rights of our time, as one in three women has experienced sexual or domestic violence.
Domestic violence is not a private issue, she said, but a crime affecting human dignity and it concerns the state. It also requires the application of an integrated support and protection mechanism of the victims, she said.
Police spokesman Andreas Angelides said that while in the past the victims were more hesitant in filing complaints, lately things are changing because of public awareness.
He added that police is now training its members who handle such cases so that victims can feel comfortable to recount the events.
State prosecutor Louisa Christodoulidou Zannetou said the vast majority of victims, or 86 per cent, are women and girls, but there are also male victims of domestic violence.
Domestic violence cases, Zannetou said, are now referred directly to the courts, which address the issue with increased severity. She said that strict penalties are very important as according to studies, the perpetrators seem to repeat the abuse of their victims.
She said that in some known cases, which even resulted in the murders of women and children, there were recorded incidents of repeated violence. But in many cases, she said, victims withdraw complaints and this ultimately hinders the case appearing in court due to insufficient evidence.
On the same issue, the Ombudsman said that the mechanisms involved of all relevant services, which should be perfectly tuned to offer support to the victim, “unfortunately do not function well”. She added that all services should be able to detect the degree of risk in each case.
“If this was done, I believe that some women who were killed would be alive today,” Savvidou said.
Justice minister Ionas Nicolaou said that his ministry is taking a number of measures and actions in collaboration with other ministries involved for gradual implementation of the provisions of the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, signed by Cyprus in June.
He also said that his ministry and the Legal Service are preparing a bill, which is expected to be completed within days, to criminalise stalking as provided for in the convention.
As part of an awareness campaign, the CIIM is organising a seminar on domestic violence. The seminar, which is open to members of the public, is divided in two parts; the first will be held on November 30 and the second on December 1, both between 7pm to 9pm at the CIIM in Nicosia.
