Cyprus, Greece sign MoU on domestic and gender violence
Cooperation between Cyprus and Greece in preventing and combatting domestic and gender violence was levelled up on Tuesday with the signing of a memorandum of understanding.
The MoU was signed in Nicosia by Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis and Minister of Social Cohesion and Family of Greece Sofia Zacharaki.
Hartsiotis said the MoU addressed violence against women and ways to implement a preventive policy and strategy more effectively.
He said both Cyprus and Greece saw incidents of gender violence and expressed certainty that the MoU would facilitate innovations in the right direction.
Zacharaki said Greece had introduced many measures, including the ‘panic button’, consultation centres and hospices.
She added that the ‘panic button’ alone had been downloaded 3,500 times in 2024 – including by 195 men – and was only available to those who had been to a consultation centre or visited a police station. In 2024, it had been pressed 400 times for immediate police intervention.
This MoU, she said, would allow both countries to cooperate to develop programmes, exchange practices and training and set protocols to help victims of domestic violence. Zacharaki also pointed out the importance of programmes in schools to prevent domestic violence.