Domestic violence and gender-based violence has been studied and recognised
for many years in Greece. Adequate legislation on the criminalization of
domestic violence has been implemented since 2006 (Law 3500/2006 on the
Confrontation of Domestic Violence). A network of support services has also
operated across the country for many years, staffed with professionals
trained in the gender-sensitive perspective. However, Greece still faces the
impact of the economic crisis that started in 2010 and the critical aspects
of the crisis from the reduction of the public budget imposed by the European
institutions in the lives of the individuals, the victims and the providers
of the social services have not been fully assessed yet. The COVID-19
pandemic created problems in the victims? access to social services and not
only. The shadow pandemic describes the alarm on the increase of domestic
violence during the pandemic and the isolation of the victims from the
providers of social and psychological support. Addressing both the issue of
domestic violence through a victim-centered approach before and during the
pandemic in Greece and the need for the implementation of evidence-based
policies are the general aims of the paper. To this, we present few findings
from an original victimological online research on domestic violence during
the first lockdown in the country (March to May 2020) and we justify the need
for the implementation of evidence-based policies in the criminal justice
system in Greece.
Domestic violence: Evidence-based policies before and during the pandemic in Greece
