A Greek woman was afraid of her ex-partner. He killed her in front of a police station | Women

Athens, Greece – On the evening of April 1, a Monday, 28-year-old Kyriaki Griva’s ex-partner stabbed her to death in front of a police station in northern Athens.

She was the fifth woman killed by an ex or partner in Greece this year.

Griva had just left her local police station, which she went to out of fear of her former boyfriend lurking near her home.

She had filed a formal complaint against him before but declined this time. Although their reasoning is not clear, victims of domestic violence often choose not to file a formal complaint because they are afraid of the consequences, fearful of triggering the process, and have little trust in the authorities tasked with providing safety .

Griva requested a police escort home that night. She was referred to a police hotline, which she called. An operator reportedly told her that “patrol cars are not a taxi service.”

Shortly afterwards, Griva was killed near the Agioi Anargyroi train station.

The 39-year-old suspect was in jail awaiting trial; He is reportedly being monitored in a psychiatric ward.

In response to the murder, Civil Protection Minister Michalis Chrisochoidis promised a thorough investigation and expressed support for the inclusion of the term “femicide” in Greece’s penal code – a point activists have long pushed for – although he added that this would ultimately be the case to the Department of Justice.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis dismissed criticism of his police minister, saying that “the blame cannot always lie with the top when something goes wrong in the state,” but acknowledged that the government needs to do more.

Meanwhile, lawyers representing Griva’s family have called for the officers who spoke to Griva that day to be investigated for possible negligence and manslaughter.

Charities and families of victims have long accused Greek authorities of not taking domestic violence seriously enough.

In December 2023, the same month that a woman on the island of Salamina was shot dead by her partner in her mother’s house after she reported him to the police, a Greek artist’s work alluding to femicide was removed from the Greek consulate located in New York.

A government spokesman said Georgia Lale’s “Neighborhood Guilt,” which depicted the Greek flag made of pink sheets, was removed because the consulate space should remain neutral and “there are some things that are sacred above all else, one of which is our flag.” “. .

Lale responded that they were “sad” that their work had been misinterpreted.

“Victims of femicide are heroes of the fight for freedom and life in Greece and worldwide,” they said.

Katerina Kotti, the mother of 31-year-old Dora Zacharia, who was killed by her partner on the island of Rhodes in September 2021, told Al Jazeera that she feels “anger, anger and disappointment” at the news of each new femicide.

Zachariah was killed in front of her parents’ house.

“This can’t happen again. How often will this happen?” Kotti asked. “My heart bleeds that another girl who was full of dreams and in love with life has been lost, another family has lost its footing and has to fight to put the pieces back together, this is very difficult, “They will never get over the loss of their child.”

Regarding Griva’s murder outside a police station, she said: “Of course we shouldn’t jump to conclusions or generalize, but the authorities should pay more attention and evaluate each case more carefully.”

Kotti said that boys in particular should be taught from a young age that “they have no right to anyone and that no means no, no one belongs to anyone else.”

There have been protests and vigils across Greece in recent weeks. Some carried protest banners with the police officer’s alleged words before Griva’s murder: “The patrol car is not a taxi.”

There has also been an increase in reporting of domestic violence cases – and arrests.

Anna Vouyioukas, social scientist, gender expert and advocacy advocate at Diotima, a center for gender rights and equality in Greece, told Al Jazeera that it is “obvious that femicides could be the result of institutional violence, as the state does not provide guarantees” for women and fails to create safe conditions in the community, at home, at work, in public spaces and even in the immediate vicinity of a police station.”

Vouyioukas said that despite an increase in domestic violence cases, as shown by the police’s own data, “gender-based crimes are not taken seriously by law enforcement, at least not in all cases.”

She said the number of female victims of domestic violence increased by almost 73 percent from 2020 to 2021, and there was a 37 percent increase from 2021 to 2022.

Vouyioukas called on Greece to legally recognize femicide in the criminal code, which she said would “make the phenomenon visible and highlight its social and gender dimension.”

“It is a crime committed on the basis of gender discrimination and unequal power relations,” she said, also calling for further support for survivors and more training for police officers.

Kotti is one of a group of grieving families who have lost female relatives to domestic violence.

They want life sentences for convicts who have no prospect of release.

“We should tell it like it is,” she said. “Those who have received a life sentence are the women themselves and then the families who are forced to live in their absence.”