The Conference co-organized by the National Transparency Authority, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the National Human Rights Commission entitled "Joining forces to address gender-based violence" was a great success.
More than 250 public and private sector officials had the opportunity to attend an interesting exchange of views on actions to be taken to prevent, address and deter gender-based violence, both in the local and migrant communities, as well as ways in which government agencies, civil society and members of the local and refugee community can work together in the best possible way to prevent gender-based violence.
Greetings were given by :
Ms. Maria Syrengela, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, responsible for Demographic Policy and Family Affairs, who noted that "The creation of a strong safety net for women - victims of violence and a culture of zero tolerance towards violence and harassment is among our priorities. We promote actions to prevent and address incidents of gender and domestic violence and encourage women to report violent behaviour. We stand by women victims of violence, our Network of Structures is always on standby to help victims and we send the message that no woman is alone in the fight against violence."
Ms. Alexandra Rogkakou, Interim Governor of the National Transparency Authority and Head of the Inspections and Audits Unit, stated that " Gender-based violence is a daily, global phenomenon, affecting the vast majority of women and young girls, but also people from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex, Queer, Asexual (LGBTIQA+) community, people with disabilities, refugees. The phenomenon of the 'silent pandemic', as it has come to be called, intensified - not only in Greece but also throughout Europe - even more during the pandemic, mainly due to the conditions of confinement. It is indicative that according to an annual report of the Parliament, in 2020 alone, the year in which the pandemic broke out, there were 2,350 cases of female victims of physical domestic violence and there were 5,669 reported domestic violence crimes, while the corresponding number in 2019 was 5,220 and in 2018 4,722.
The National Transparency Authority, through awareness-raising and public information activities, supports the efforts of public and private actors to eradicate these phenomena. But our role is not theoretical... as an Authority, we have been actively involved by submitting specific opinions and proposals to the Commission for the design of the "National Strategy for LGBTIQA+ Equality" for the training and awareness-raising of public administration officials on these issues. I would like to stress the need for cooperation between all stakeholders so that gender-based violence, like any social phenomenon, can only be addressed through open public dialogue, effective synergies and collective effort. As with corruption, we have zero tolerance for gender-based violence.
Ms. Maria Gavouneli, Professor at the Law School of the University of Athens and President of the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), recalled that the NCHR is the independent advisory body of the Greek state on human rights protection issues, noting that "we closely monitor all phenomena of gender violence, We advise on the necessary measures to be taken and intervene with public statements and recommendations to the state, at the same time we are a bridge to civil society and therefore we are able to coordinate parallel actions, so that there is maximum awareness."
Ms. M. Gavouneli, referring to this year's cycle of educational activities of the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) said that “it is dedicated to women's empowerment and substantive gender equality. We are inviting, she said, women from all backgrounds but especially women who are in counter roles, women in positions of power, in the army, in the police, women who are outside the 'usual' framework, precisely to emphasize that we need to overcome all the invisible and visible obstacles to move towards substantive gender equality, part of which is gender-based violence”. She also stressed that "what is of particular concern to us is the fact that in our country we have achieved absolute legal equality and yet we remain consistently last in the list for substantive equality in the countries of the European Union" He continued by stating that " The National Committee proposed the signing and ratification of the International Labour Organization Convention 190 'On the Elimination of Violence and Harassment at Work', it was a great pleasure to see the Deputy Minister responding and today it is part of the arsenal of El We continue to work towards the harmonisation of work and family life as defined in Directive 2019/1158/EU, which was transposed into national law by the same law. Overall, the EHRC is working on the horizontal integration of equality policies everywhere, including gender budgeting, which is a prerequisite for the eradication of gender-based violence. He noted: "We are particularly pleased to see the increased publicity that incidents of gender-based violence are receiving, as this is how we break the wall of silence and acknowledge the problem, thus taking the first steps to address it."
Participants in the debate included statements by:
Ms. Anastasia Papanastasiou, Protection Associate, UNHCR, Athens Office, referred to the importance of a holistic approach to preventing and addressing gender-based violence for all residents of Greece, including vulnerable social groups, such as refugees and women refugees. The refugee population, due to the experience of displacement and the breakdown of ties and safety nets, has an increased risk of being exposed to gender-based violence and exploitation. UNHCR already has several programmes to prevent and respond to gender-based violence, but it is considered extremely important to support state agencies providing services to the refugee population, to establish close partnerships with state agencies, including ministries, municipalities, police, international organisations, NGOs and local associations and clubs, and to empower and include refugees and refugee women in all actions to prevent, raise awareness and respond to gender-based violence.
Ms. Angeliki Papazoglou, Head of the Directorate of Social Protection and Counselling Services, General Secretariat for Equality, in her speech focused on the presentation of the areas of cooperation and coordination of actions of the General Secretariat for Demographic and Family Policy and Gender Equality with other state bodies, local government, international organizations and civil society organizations in order to implement effective, coherent and coordinated policies and measures to prevent and combat violence.
Ms. Maria Voutsinou, Specialist, Citizen's Advocate, referring to gender-based violence and the role of the Ombudsman, noted that "The Ombudsman is the national body responsible for combating discrimination and promoting the principle of equal treatment. Gender-based violence as a form of discrimination is therefore dealt with by the Ombudsman in the context of this competence and concerns mainly harassment and sexual harassment, particularly in employment and work. Issues relating to the protection of victims of gender-based violence and multiple discrimination (e.g. victims of domestic violence, LGBTIQA+ victims, victims of trafficking in human beings, vulnerable groups of the population) are also examined in the context of individual petitions submitted to the Authority. With regard to the issues of the refugee and migrant population and the protection of victims of gender-based violence, problems are identified in terms of both their identification and information, as well as their access to the competent authorities and their effective protection (e.g. The Ombudsman's experience shows that, despite the modernisation of the legislative framework and the design of relevant policy actions, there are still shortcomings and problems in their implementation in practice and in the effective response to gender-based violence.
Mr. Anestis Sapounas, Police Officer B', Department of Domestic Violence, referred to the role of the Hellenic Police in dealing with domestic violence, but also to the establishment of Staff and Operational Offices for Domestic Violence in the Territory. As he said "domestic violence is a complex phenomenon that needs the coordinated action of agencies to address it and we as police are required by law to inform victims about the assistance providers" Mr. A. Sapounas stressed the sharp increase in the phenomenon in recent years, presenting official statistics.
Ms. Georgia Vazaki, Head of the Department for Violence and Harassment at Work, Labour Inspectorate and Ms. Maria Antonopoulou, Head of the Department for Violence and Harassment at Work, Labour Inspectorate, presented the main points from the perspective of the Labour Inspectorate's responsibilities, informing about the new measures and regulations on harassment and violence at work, gave examples and definitions and also referred to the employer's obligations to prevent and deal with these phenomena, the rights of the affected persons and the establishment of an Independent Department for monitoring violence and harassment at work.
The workshop was moderated by Ms. Sonia Phili, Journalist at ERT channel.
You can find more information following the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv4BNxJG2k8