Greek Prime Minister calls out violence against women

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called out violence against women in his key address on Friday at the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, noting that ignorance about the phenomenon of gender-based violence has become less common, "because victims are speaking out and the state responds accordingly."

The Greek PM was addressing an event discussing policies for tackling this particular type of violence and said the key word was "trust", especially trusting the state to take action.

In relation to the issue, he said that changes in the penal code mean that grievous bodily harm and permanent disfigurement and/or disability now carry prison sentences of up to 15 years, while human trafficking carries up to life imprisonment. In addition, the offence of revenge pornography has been recently criminalised, he said, while he also noted that offending one's sexual misconduct in the workplace is prosecuted ex officio.

Finally, Mitsotakis spoke of the new "Panic Button" app for smartphones, which allows a person to notify the police, and while he also lauded the significant work carried out by the 15900 Helpline for abused women.