Cyprus interested in operating pan-European hotline for gender violence victims

Cyprus has expressed intertest in operating a pan-European hotline for victims of gender-based violence, it was announced on Tuesday.

Toward that end, Justice Minister Emily Yiolitis signed a declaration of commitment for a pan-European hotline in support of victims of violence against women.

The move is on the initiative of the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union (July-December 2020), supported by both the successive Presidency (Portuguese) and the European Commission.

Yiolitis had expressed her support for this initiative, during an informal teleconference of the EU ministers of equality, last November.

Recently, Cyprus reaffirmed its support and commitment to take over the operation of a pan-European hotline for victims of gender-based violence, sending all relevant declarations of commitment to the European Commission.

“The benefits of using this single line at European level are expected to be many: women victims of violence will have immediate and easy access to a pan-European number on a 24-hour basis, while receiving adequate support, assistance and guidance from specially trained professionals, in order to escape the vicious circle of violence and seek the best possible solutions to protect them,” an official statement said.

The justice ministry intends to financially support the association for the prevention and handling of domestic violence (Spavo) for the operation of this line, when and if it is decided to operate at a pan-European level, it added.