Athens, Greece – On the night of April 1, a Monday, Kyriaki Griva’s ex-partner, 28, stabbed her to death in front of a police station in northern Athens.
She was the fifth woman killed by an ex or partner this year in Greece.
Griva had just left the local police station, which she visited in fear of her ex-boyfriend, who was wandering near her house.
She had previously filed formal complaints against him, but on this occasion she refused to do so. Although their reasoning is unclear, victims of domestic violence often choose not to file formal complaints because they are afraid of the repercussions, fear that the process may be triggering, and have little faith in the agencies meant to provide safety.
Griva requested a police escort back home that night. She was directed to a police hotline, which she called. An operator reportedly told her that “patrol cars are not a taxi service.”
Griva was killed shortly afterwards near Agioi Anargyroi station.
The 39-year-old suspect was in prison awaiting trial; he is reportedly being monitored in a psychiatric ward.
In response to the murder, Civil Protection Minister Michalis Chrisochoidis promised an in-depth investigation and voiced his support for the inclusion of the term femicide in the Greek penal code – a point that activists have long advocated – although he added that this would ultimately escalate. . to the Ministry of Justice.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis refuted criticism of his police minister, saying: “the blame cannot always lie at the top when something goes wrong in the state”, but acknowledged that the government needed to do more.
Meanwhile, lawyers representing Griva’s family have since called for the officers who spoke to Griva that day to be investigated for potential negligence and manslaughter.
Charities and families of victims have long accused Greek authorities of not taking domestic violence seriously enough.
In December 2023, the same month that a woman was shot dead on the island of Salamis by her partner in her mother’s house after reporting him to the police, a work by a Greek artist alluding to feminicide was removed from the Greek consulate in New York .
A government spokesperson said Georgia Lale’s “Neighborhood Guilt,” which depicted the Greek flag made from pink sheets, was removed because the consulate space was supposed to remain neutral and “there are some things that are sacred above all, one of them is our flag.” .
Lale said in response that they were “saddened” that their work had been misinterpreted.
“Victims of feminicide are heroes of the fight for freedom and life in Greece and internationally,” they stated.
Katerina Kotti, mother of Dora Zacharia, 31, who was killed by her partner on the island of Rhodes in September 2021, told Al Jazeera that she felt “anger, anger and disappointment” at the news of each new femicide.
Zacharia was killed outside her parents’ home.
“This can’t happen again, how often will this continue to happen?” Kotti asked. “My soul bleeds because yet another girl who was full of dreams, in love with life, has lost her way, yet another family has lost the ground beneath their feet and will have to fight to pick up the pieces, this is very difficult to do, they will never overcome the loss of your son.
Regarding Griva’s murder outside a police station, she said: “Of course we should not jump to conclusions or generalize, but authorities should pay more attention and evaluate each case more meticulously.”
Kotti said boys especially should be taught from a young age that “they are not entitled to anyone and that no means no, no one belongs to anyone.”
Protests and vigils have sprung up across Greece in recent weeks, with some carrying protest banners written with the police officer’s alleged words before Griva was murdered: “The patrol car is not a taxi.”
There was also an increase in reports of domestic violence cases – and arrests.
Anna Vouyioukas, a social scientist, gender equality expert and head of advocacy at Diotima, a center for gender rights and equality in Greece, told Al Jazeera that it was “obvious that femicides can be the result of institutional violence , since the State does not provide guarantees to women, and does not create conditions of safety in the community, at home, at work, in public spaces or even in the vicinity of a police station”.
Vouyioukas said that despite the increase in cases of domestic violence, as the police’s own data shows, “gender-based crimes are not taken seriously by law enforcement authorities, at least not in all cases”.
She said that from 2020 to 2021, the number of women victims of domestic violence increased by almost 73 percent, and from 2021 to 2022 there was a 37 percent increase.
Vouyioukas urged Greece to adopt a legal recognition of femicide in the penal code, which, she said, “would make the phenomenon visible and highlight its social and gender dimension”.
“It is a crime committed based on gender discrimination and unequal power relations,” she said, while calling for more support for survivors and more training for police officers.
Kotti is part of a group of grieving families who have lost female relatives to domestic violence.
They would like to see life sentences for convicts who offer no prospect of release.
“We should tell it like it is,” she said. “Those who have been sentenced to life in prison are the women themselves and then the families who are forced to live in their absence.”
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
