Violence has many faces, but there’s only a single solution: prevention.
Today, 25th November is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and we ought to know this phenomenon to finally put an end to it. Violence doesn’t make distinctions between social classes, skin color, level of education, financial status or age. This was the main conclusion of the statistics reported by the General Secretariat for Gender Equality. The culprits are not characterized by a specific profile, as they may belong to any socioeconomic level, nationality, level of education, or age group.
To express a complain of a violent phenomenon, the SOS hotline 15900 has been set into motion, which “began its action in March 2011, comprised by psychologists and social scientists and provides 24/7 immediate assistance to urgent incidents of violence. This hotline address all women who have become recipients of any form of violence, mistreatment, rape or attempt of rape. It is for women who have fallen victims of prostitution and women who have experienced sexual harassment in their working, social or family environment” according to Katerina Politsidou, the SOS line coordinator.
Most calls are received by victims living in big city areas and rarely from rural regions since, according to the victim herself, they are scared to take some kind of action because in many cases the culprit has connections to the police stations. Unfortunately, not all women are aware they are being mistreated with some form of violence, since they may have been raised in a violent environment, while this could be also related to stereotypes. Usually, women who fall victims of violence feel ashamed and responsible for the situation they find themselves in, while they have very low self-esteem and self-worth.
Therefore, our goal should be this: inform all women, explain to them, introduce them to a safe environment to discuss and gradually give them strength and a voice.
Violence in numbers
Since 2012, which is the year that this support system has been set in motion, till today, 25079 women have turned to Advisory Centers, 1518 women have been accommodated in hospitality establishments, while the SOS line 15 900 has received 37482 calls since it was brought into service on 11/03/2011.
Throughout 2018 alone, Advisory centers have addressed 4909 women, 286 women were accommodated in Hospitality Establishments while the SOS hotline received 5088 calls.
Out of these 5088 calls of 2018, 4116 (81%) of them involved incidents of gender based violence. More specifically, 2864 calls (70%) received were by the victims themselves, while 1252 (30%) were complaints by third parties, (mostly friends 26%, parents 11%, other type of relatives 10%, siblings 12%, neighbors 15% and others 17%).
Source: isotita.gr & cnn.gr
Translation: Niki Saridaki
