Aspasia is not angered by the question “why didn’t she run away to save herself.” He knows that for some reason it pops up every time femicide The news comes to light that for some reason society is looking for blame on the victim. And the reason he founded it movement to prevent and combat gender-based violence Strong Me this is so that he can answer the same questions over and over again until the last doubts are cleared and everyone is face to face with the problem.

Various stages

“No one starts a good day by crippling a woman,” he says, having the same bitter experience, but also interacting daily with women from all over Greece. “THEN abuse it has too many stages. It starts with signs that we have not learned to perceive, such as excessive jealousy, that he talks about marriage and children at the very beginning of a relationship, or begins “don’t wear this, everyone will look at you.” These are things that at the beginning of a relationship seem even flattering. But after marriage, these signs intensify. “You will not go out unaccompanied”, “I forbid you to wear this”, etc. By this point, the society is almost silent. After all, it is widely believed that a woman should remain in the shadows after marriage.

Verbal attacks

“What follows is verbal abuse, financial abuse, ‘your friends and relatives are not coming home. Even then, a woman may think: “Okay, let’s not spoil our hearts.” Then the dismissive behavior begins: “It’s your fault that I behave this way.” The offending man takes over from the “angelic” apologist, Dr. Jekyll, and Mr. Hyde in your own home. No woman wants to admit it. She can recognize violence in others, but not in herself. He loves me, we are not like that. He had a bad day at work, his mother influences him. Somewhere out there the game is lost. Eventually, abusers become very manipulative. “Who will turn to look at you?”, “Where are you going with two children?” To all this, we add that after an incident of violence, the victim must go alone to the hospital, to the medical examiner, to the police, to a lawyer, to a psychologist. “In Iceland, which is a model country in these matters, after filing a complaint, a mechanism is launched and everything works automatically.”

strong me

Society doesn’t know the depth of the problem, how many houses it hides in, says Aspa, who created Strong Me after it broke out. Me too, with the aim of becoming a body that will unite all bodies around abuse, a channel of communication. “Outside of urban centers, the problem is horrendous. We were on the barren line, on the frontier, everywhere. There are areas without social services. We held meetings where no one came. And yet, only from the posters were women who picked up the phone and got in touch.”

Prevention of gender-based violence

September 23-25 ​​Strong Me organizes in Serafio 2nd annual festival to prevent and combat it gender violencewith the participation of 32 organizations from all over Greece and Cyprus under the umbrella of equality and KEDE.

Within the framework of the festival, representatives of individual municipal committees on equality issues will meet for the first time, as well as an open discussion about femicide with the participation of relatives of the murdered women. “Until we solve the problem, we are creating a new generation of femicides. However, we should not get angry, but explain the differences in order to break stereotypes and learn, ”emphasizes Aspasia Theophilou.

Separate offense under the law in Cyprus

“Nine in 2019, five in 2020, five in 2021, one in 2022… so far. Each number corresponds to a person and specifically to a woman. (…) They all died because they were women. All were killed by people they trusted. Former and current husbands, partners, brothers, fathers who considered them their property, who had power over them, who had the belief that they could manage their lives … About how they think, what they wear, how they talk, who they are love … Even about how long they will live.

Thus began the speech of the President of the House of Representatives of Cyprus, Annita Dimitriou, on July 8 before the plenary session of the House during the historic session, in which, with 38 votes in favor and 4 against, “feminicide” was established as a separate crime, integrated into a special law on the prevention and control of violence against women and domestic violence.

Cyprus is one of the first countries in Europe to recognize femicide as a distinct crime, defined as the killing of a woman as a result of intimate partner violence, torture and misogyny, and domestic violence.

“Why do we insist on the importance of the term femicide? Because it systematizes, gives meaning and names the most extreme forms of gender violence. Therefore, we must call the facts by their proper names,” Ms. Dimitriou said.