51 Women Fall Victim to Domestic Violence Everyday in Greece

Fifty-one women have been falling victims to domestic violence daily so far this year in Greece, according to the latest data released by the Hellenic Police. Despite efforts to curb the incidents, the latest numbers mark a 87 percent increase within a year.

The data is released ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, observed on November 25th.

A breakdown of police’s numbers on domestic violence

In the first ten months of 2024, 15,571 women were victims of domestic violence across the country. While 5,583 men were also reported to be domestic violence victims, Hellenic Police statistics say that out of every ten victims, over seven are women. Police were asked to respond to 21,865 incidents of domestic violence, with almost 6,000 occurring between spouses while over 3,000 involved permanent partners.

Police data also shows an increase in arrests related to domestic violence incidents. 11,308 were arrested, a 104 percent increase compared to the same time in 2023. Among them were 255 minors, when in 2023 their number was 106. In terms of age, men aged 45-60 top the list, with 4,979 arrested. The second group includes ages 35-45, with 4,383 arrests while men aged 30-35 come third with 1,631 arrests.

Regarding geography, big cities continue to be the hotspots of domestic violence incidents. Attica, the regional unit where Athens is located, recorded 7,558 domestic violence incidents while Thessaloniki, in northern Greece comes second with 1,311 incidents. A large number of incidents has also been recorded in the island of Crete and the Peloponnese.

Police began installing the panic button, an application for smartphones that alerts the police if a victim is in danger, in March 2023. Since then, and until the end of October 2024, the application has been activated 788 times by both men and women. According to the Ministry of Citizen Protection, under which the police operate, over 16,000 women and over 3,000 men are entitled to have access to the application. Only about one-third of the women have opted to install it, with the number of men opting the same being much fewer.

Rise in femicides in Greece

Femicides in Greece have doubled in 2024 compared to 2023, when six incidents were recorded. According to police data, since 2020, when the rise began, femicides have reached 49. Women’s rights groups have been urging the Greek government to classify femicides as a separate crime, yet so far the government insists that the existing laws are enough to prosecute the perpetrators.

Several countries across the world have made the killing of a woman a specific crime and have introduced femicide laws. Among them is Costa Rica and Cyprus, which integrated femicide into the criminal law as a separate crime in 2022 while Croatia is the third and latest EU country to adopt a femicide law earlier this year.