The rise in complaints about harassment in relation to one of the two parents in recent years has been recorded by lawyers and child psychiatrists. Complaints are filed in exceptional cases conflict divorcesespecially when the conflict is about communication or child custody. Suspicions have been raised about the functioning of an industry of denunciation, the authenticity of which cannot be verified given the existing judicial system and how it works in relation to the protection of children. At the same time, hundreds of children live for years under conditions of strong psychological stress, which leads to their mental trauma.

How likely is it that the psychologist came across 4 stories in 25 days? child abuse parents and issue 4 relevant opinions (technical opinions) that were filed with the court, exactly on the day of consideration of interim measures for communication or co-parenting? If we also take into account that the mentioned “cruel” parents, in this case the fathers, were in different cities of Greece, the chances decrease much more. 4 opinions of the same psychologist were written at the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021 (December-January) and submitted to the court when, as expected, communication with the father was forbidden.

However, other similar reports by the same psychologist have since become known, which were also presented by the opposing counsel on the day the father’s request for contact with the child was considered.

The fathers appealed to the Supreme Court with a request for further investigation of the case. The first request to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Supreme Court was filed in August 2022, but to date, a total of 16 people have filed an application, all fathers who were accused of child sexual abuse by their ex-wives. At the beginning of 2023, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Supreme Court sent an order to conduct a preliminary investigation to the prosecutor’s offices of Athens, Corfu, Corinth, Thessaloniki, Piraeus. At the same time, each of the fathers went to court against his wife for abuse, but the proceedings are proceeding at an extremely slow pace.

The applicants petitioned the Supreme Court for further investigation of the case.

It is characteristic that in one of the cases, after filing a complaint of ill-treatment, on the day of the hearing of the temporary order in 2020 (after the father’s request to meet with the child), the father was forbidden to communicate with the child. However, no other child protection procedure prescribed by law has been initiated. The child was not examined by a state structure, neither were both parents examined, as it should be in the case of child abuse.

The same father applied three times for the examination of the child to a child psychiatrist in a state institution, but it took two years for his application to be accepted, and the mother insisted that further examinations were not necessary. In 2022, when the child was finally examined, the child psychiatrist ruled that he could not detect signs of abuse. However, a father today has more than five years to see his child in normal conditions. By the time the judiciary has moved and a decision has been made on the charge, any connection to the parent will be completely severed.

Acquitted 5 years later

One of the fathers, who went to the Supreme Court after five years of legal wrangling, was finally acquitted of sexual harassment charges. Formally, he was cleared of the abuse charges, but in practice he has now become completely estranged from his child. When he went to meet him after 4.5 years, he ran into a wall: he found himself in front of his child, who was accompanied by his mother and bailiffs, and he insisted that he leave and never return.

Of the children, 16 people who applied to Areo Pago, some of them have been examined by public child psychiatrists, and the examination is incompatible with sexual abuse. The psychologist in question, in an attempt to stop the investigation, sued the fathers on the grounds that they were an infidel gang. However, the lawsuit was filed without further action. At the same time, the Association of Greek Psychologists, contacted by the fathers’ advocates, forwarded complaints received against a particular psychologist to the Athens District Attorney’s Office.

“An atmosphere of guilt is being formed”

OUR Dr. Christina Antonopoulou, an associate professor at the University of Athens and a forensic psychologist, explains that in cases where there is a complaint of sexual assault, certain protocols must be followed. In Greece, a few cases and only after the request of a lawyer are transferred to an independent state expert, while thousands of related complaints remain … in the air.

In Greece, we are far behind on child protection and sexual abuse of minors. It was only in 2020 that the Ministry of Justice created a protocol on how to deal with cases of child abuse, while in all European countries such protocols have been for decades, and in Turkey for 30 years.

“These protocols describe exactly how assessments should be made in cases where sexual violence is reported. That is, how evaluators should treat the child, how to ask in order not to direct the child, and more. The international protocol says that the child must be examined not only by both parents, but also by the alleged offender. The state must assign the case to an expert, independent experts appointed by the state who have the knowledge and experience to assess the case.

Decisions are made for a long time, and in Greece we are far behind in matters of child protection,” the forensic psychologist explains to “K”.

– No. To do this, the lawyer of one of the two warring parties must request it, because there are not many experts. Usually it is required by the defendant’s lawyer, who is trying to prove that what was said is not true. However, since even in this case it takes a long time to make a decision, in the meantime the alleged abuser is prohibited from contacting the child. Thus, we have parents who have not seen their children for 2-3 years, and this is the distance that leaves its mark on the child’s psyche. Withdrawal and distancing create a climate of guilt. The child feels that since he does not see me, he is to blame, he was removed, which means he is dangerous.

– When such a complaint is filed, the alleged perpetrators must also be interrogated immediately. There are psychometric assessment tests and many other ways to find out if someone is telling the truth or lying. It would be much easier and faster for the judge to draw conclusions. But only in 2020 we built an orphanage, and this is in Athens and Thessaloniki. What’s going on in the rest of Greece? We are very far behind on children’s human rights issues, and it will be many years before we can say that we are able to address these issues with respect and understanding, in a scientific way, and, ultimately, to protect children.