Nicosia, Cyprus. A total of 18,409 cases of violence against women and domestic violence were reported from 2021 to June 2026, police chief Themistos Arnaoutis told the House human rights committee on Monday. He said the complaints led to 3,674 arrests, 2,858 restriction orders and 373 victim protection orders.
Committee review
The committee met to discuss the implementation through national law of the Istanbul Convention to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence, following recent femicides on the island.
Minister calls for immediate action
Justice Minister Constantinos Fitiris said authorities should respond immediately upon receiving a complaint.
Fitiris said that earlier on Monday he had received a message on Messenger from an unknown woman who said she was in danger from her ex-husband, who was threatening her.
“I immediately passed it on to the responsible police office,” Fitiris said.
Special force and legal changes
The minister said emphasis would be placed on acting immediately on complaints by activating a special force to investigate and prevent any danger.
Regarding armed policemen, Fitiris said the aim was to amend the law so that psychometric tests could be carried out “the soonest possible because we consider this to be very serious”.
Recent cases
The issue came to the forefront last week when a police officer went to work, took his service gun, met his wife and shot and critically injured her before committing suicide.
A couple of days earlier, a 38-year-old woman was allegedly stabbed by her former husband and taken to hospital. The woman’s 58-year-old mother was also allegedly attacked in the same incident.