Greece Toughens Domestic Violence Law, but Faces Criticism

Athens, Greece - The Greek parliament has passed a new domestic violence bill, imposing tougher penalties on perpetrators. While the legislation addresses emerging forms of cyber violence and aims to protect victims, opposition MPs and civil society groups argue that it relies too heavily on punishment rather than prevention.

The bill, which was passed with 157 votes in favor and 135 against, shortens the length of trials for domestic violence cases and allows for house arrest of perpetrators when other restrictive conditions are deemed insufficient.

However, center-left PASOK MP Christina Staraka criticized the government's approach, saying the center-right New Democracy party is more interested in "showing society that it is taking revenge on the perpetrators" than in actually protecting victims of domestic violence. She argued that the ongoing tightening of the legal framework has been ineffective, as crime, domestic violence and femicide continue to rise.

The new law is an adaptation of the European Directive 2024/1385, which was open for public consultation from December 4, 2024 to January 7, 2025. But some civil society groups, such as Diotima, a center for gender rights and equality in Athens, criticized the lack of consultation with scientific bodies.

Diotima said the process "diminishes the effectiveness of the overall legislative initiative" and argued that the bill does not follow the EU directive's emphasis on "holistic and long-term policies for the prevention and fight against gender-based violence." Instead, the organization said, the bill "exclusively favors the criminal treatment of the phenomenon, primarily rewarding repressive practices … and stricter penalties." It also noted that the draft law does not criminalize femicide, which the EU directive does.

According to Greek police data, reported incidents of domestic violence increased from 9,860 in the first ten months of 2023 to 18,427 in 2024.

The new legislation aims to address the growing problem of domestic violence in Greece, but its effectiveness remains a subject of debate, as concerns are raised about the lack of focus on prevention and the limited consultation with civil society and scientific experts.