Tongues are timidly starting to loosen over incest in Greece.

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A. GELEBART / 20 MINUTES / SIPA

The victims are breaking the silence today.

In Greek patriarchal society, where sexual violence is struggling to escape the private sphere, the revelations in mid-January of Olympic sailing champion Sophia Bekatarou - who recounted being sexually assaulted at the age of 21 by a senior official of the Greek Federation - have provoked an avalanche of denunciations of sexual assault suffered by women athletes, students, journalists or actresses.

For the first time in Greece, a public figure dared to speak publicly about this trauma.

"90% of sexual assaults remain in the shadows," says Vassiliki Artinopoulou, professor at the University of Pantion in Athens.

"Only the tip of the iceberg is made public," she adds.

"We live in a sexist society"

Taking advantage of this late #Metoo, languages ​​continue to loosen today, and victims of incest are gradually speaking out to denounce the attacks they have suffered.

Konstantinos Yannopoulos, president of the association "The smile of the child", underlines "the need" to take advantage of the situation of #Metoo so that the word is finally freed on sexual assault in the family.

"In the majority of cases, it is the father who is the aggressor and worse, the mother supports him", he laments.

"We live in a sexist society, which justifies the actions of men," sighs Konstantinos Yannopoulos, who pleads for the creation of a national body to identify cases of incest.

Few cases of incest are yet revealed in Greece

To break the taboo, the news site omniatv.gr has launched a campaign on sexual assault in the family sphere, based on the case of Eleonora (assumed name), whose brother appears in February for having abused her. 'she at the age of 11.

Created on the occasion of this appeal trial, the #MilaKaiEsy (#Speakuptoo) campaign “financially supports Eleonora” who, despite her family's opposition, lodged a complaint in 2018 against her brother, fifteen years after the fact.

The aim of the campaign “is also to encourage others who have had similar experiences to speak up,” said Loukas Stamellos, omniatv editorial staff.

Few cases of incest have yet come to light spontaneously in Greece.

In 2020, out of the 2,100 cases of domestic violence denounced to his association, “only 31 concerned sexual assault”.

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Media

#MeTooInceste: How the speeches gradually broke the silence on incest and pedocriminality

  • Sexual assault

  • By the Web

  • Social networks

  • Incest

  • Rape

  • Sexual violence

  • Greece

  • Victim

  • MeToo

  • Testimony