{"id":13498,"date":"2021-05-17T12:58:36","date_gmt":"2021-05-17T10:58:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diotima.org.gr\/?p=13498"},"modified":"2025-09-29T16:21:44","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T14:21:44","slug":"call-to-withdraw-the-bill-for-mandatory-shared-custody-for-all-children-in-greece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diotima.org.gr\/en\/call-to-withdraw-the-bill-for-mandatory-shared-custody-for-all-children-in-greece\/","title":{"rendered":"Appeal to withdraw co-custody bill"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>81 Civil Society organizations from Greece and abroad, including the Diotima Center, co-sign a joint letter as part of a pan-European campaign against the bill that attempts to make co-custody mandatory for all children in Greece. Read the entire letter below:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">Athens, May 11, 2021<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">To the attention of Mr.\u00a0Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece<\/p>\n<p>Dear Mr. Mitsotakis,<\/p>\n<p>We, the undersigning Organizations, have been made aware\u00a0of the alarming content of the Greek Bill entitled \u201cReforms regarding parent-child relations and other family law issues\u201d that the Greek Minister of Justice set on public consultation and intends to propose for voting to the Greek Parliament.<\/p>\n<p>Its provisions blatantly violate legally binding International instruments regarding the human rights of all domestic violence victims (children and mothers mainly) to safety and protection, specifically:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Istanbul Convention, (Law 4531\/2018)<\/li>\n<li>2012\/29\/EU Directive on Victims\u2019 Rights \u00a0(Law 4478\/2017)<\/li>\n<li>UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Law 2101\/1992)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The child is approached from the perspective of a deeply patriarchal society, as a passive recipient of the exercise of parental rights, not as a rights holder; namely, the Bill is indifferent to the childs&#8217;:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>best interest, which is\u00a0not assessed for each child individually\u00a0but\u00a0is exclusively considered to be\u00a0the presence of two parents\u00a0in her\/his life for ALL children; it imposes \u201cjoint and evenly\u00a0exercised\u00a0parental custody\u201d\u00a0as the rule\u00a0for\u00a0ALL children\u00a0with separated parents<\/li>\n<li>will and opinion: even though it introduces a plethora of mandatory extrajudicial proceedings (private contracts, mediations) before, during, and after court, the child\u2019s opinion\u00a0is not to be sought in any of them, unless the case reaches the court.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Domestic violence victims (children and non-abusive parents, mostly mothers) are exposed by the Bill to a greater danger than they were already in:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the rule of \u201cjoint and evenly exercised parental custody\u201d obliges the child to be in physical contact with the parent s\/he doesn\u2019t reside with, \u201cfor at least 1\/3 of the total communication time, unless this parent requests shorter time\u201d; the child\u2019s refusal is considered parental alienation by the other parent, punishable by removal of custody<\/li>\n<li>for implementing the aforementioned rule, parents are mandated to multiple direct contacts and conciliations while, for modifying it, multiple mediations (before, during, and after court) are recommended or mandated, in which sessions of the simultaneous presence of the two parties is the only option; there is no exception for domestic violence victims-perpetrators<\/li>\n<li>the parental rights of the parent-perpetrator and his\/her contact with the child can be restricted or ceased only after being convicted by the court of the first instance for crimes of domestic violence or crimes against sexual freedom or crimes of financial exploitation of sexual life; in Greek courts\u2019 reality, this means that ALL perpetrators are granted unhindered access to their victims for more than 2-5 years.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Knowing that in Greece:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the majority of abused women who have children with their abusers, don&#8217;t resort to penal courts for the domestic violence they are suffering; instead, they try to escape from the abusive home via civil court decisions, in order to obtain restriction\/protection orders against the perpetrator and to regulate the situation for children\u2019s custody and contact with the other parent, child support, etc.<\/li>\n<li>mediation is mandatory\u00a0for all cases concerning parental custody and contact with children in order for the case to reach the civil court (Law 4640\/2019, art. 6) and\u00a0penal mediation is strongly recommended\u00a0for misdemeanors of domestic violence (Law 3500\/2006)<\/li>\n<li>there is no discrete Child Protection System, no process for mandatory reporting of child abuse\/neglect, and no process for supervised parental contact<\/li>\n<li>the protection provided to domestic violence victims is inadequate because most of the related provisions of the Istanbul Convention (art. 51-53) and of the 2012\/29\/EU Directive (Art 19, 20 &amp; 22-24) are still inactive: inexistent risk assessment and management, emergency barring orders cannot be enforced, while breaches of restraining\/protection orders are neither monitored or punished<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We express our great concern that such a Law will further weaken the inadequate protection that is currently provided to domestic violence victims (mothers and children) because it will expose them to greater risk than they are already in and will extremely impede their access to Justice (Civil and Penal) in order to ask protection.<\/p>\n<p>The violations of human rights and of legally binding, International and European, instruments DO NOT disappear\u00a0by the simple addition, in Article 1, of the phrase \u201cits provisions are interpreted and applied in accordance with the legally binding for the country international conventions, in particular the Istanbul Convention, and can not be considered as justifying the non-compliance with the obligations arising from them&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>We trust that you share our great concern for all children and women that will be affected in case this Bill becomes a Greek Law and that you, like us, will prioritize the safety and well-being of all children and mothers who suffer domestic violence.<\/p>\n<p>WE CALL you\u00a0to withdraw this Bill\u00a0and\u00a0compel the Minister of Justice\u00a0to initiate an open and substantive consultation\u00a0with ALL competent agencies, including NGOs and Women Organizations.<\/p>\n<p>Most respectfully,<\/p>\n<h4>Signatories<\/h4>\n<ol>\n<li>A.L.E.G. Romania<\/li>\n<li>AC Vive Zene Bosnia and Herzegovina<\/li>\n<li>Alliance of Women in Slovakia Slovensko<\/li>\n<li>Asociaci\u00f3n AMIGA por los derechos humanos de las mujeres Spain<\/li>\n<li>Asociatia Casa Ioana Romania<\/li>\n<li>Aspacia Foundation Spain<\/li>\n<li>Associaci\u00f3 Helia Spain<\/li>\n<li>Associatio for Nonviolent Communication Slovenija<\/li>\n<li>Association des Femmes de l&#8217;Europe Meridionale (AFEM) Europe OING dot\u00e9e de statut participatif aupr\u00e8s du Conseil de l&#8217;Europe<\/li>\n<li>Association fran\u00e7aise des femmes dipl\u00f4m\u00e9es des universit\u00e9s France<\/li>\n<li>Associazione Toponomastica femminile Italia<\/li>\n<li>Bounds (UMAR) Portugal<\/li>\n<li>Ca la dona Spain<\/li>\n<li>Centre for Research and Action on Peace (KEDE) Women&#8217;s Organization &#8211; \u039a\u0395\u0394\u0395 \u039a\u03ad\u03bd\u03c4\u03c1\u03bf \u0388\u03c1\u03b5\u03c5\u03bd\u03b1\u03c2 \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9 \u0394\u03c1\u03ac\u03c3\u03b5\u03b9\u03c2 \u03b3\u03b9\u03b1 \u03c4\u03b7\u03bd \u0395\u03b9\u03c1\u03ae\u03bd\u03b7, Greece<\/li>\n<li>Community Safety and Mediation Center Romania<\/li>\n<li>Conexus Association Spain<\/li>\n<li>Counselling Line for Men and Boys Albania<\/li>\n<li>Counselling Line for Women and Girls (National Helpline 116117) Albania<\/li>\n<li>Creaci\u00f3n Positiva Spain<\/li>\n<li>Cultural-Humanitarian Fund &#8220;Sukhumi&#8221; Georgia<\/li>\n<li>Dissens &#8211; Institute for Education and Research e.V. Germany<\/li>\n<li>Dziewuchy Berlin Germany<\/li>\n<li>ECICW &#8211; European Centre of the International Council of Women Europe<\/li>\n<li>Encore f\u00e9ministes ! France<\/li>\n<li>European Alternatives France<\/li>\n<li>European Anti-Violence Network Greece<\/li>\n<li>European Network of Women &#8211; Greece<\/li>\n<li>Feminist Collectivity Theodora Greece<\/li>\n<li>Fundaci\u00f3 Aroa (Aroa Foundation) Spain<\/li>\n<li>Garance ASBL Belgium<\/li>\n<li>Gender studies center, Panteion University, Greece<\/li>\n<li>Gender Studies Research Group &#8211; University of Balearic Islands Spain<\/li>\n<li>ICBT &#8211; Institute of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Albania<\/li>\n<li>In Bona Fide Croatia<\/li>\n<li>International Council of Polish Women Poland<\/li>\n<li>Maghweb Italy<\/li>\n<li>Marche mondiale des femmes \/Suisse Suisse<\/li>\n<li>Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies Cyprus<\/li>\n<li>Munincipality of Agios Dimitrios &#8211; Attica Greece<\/li>\n<li>Necuvinte Association Romania<\/li>\n<li>Network Forum Malta<\/li>\n<li>Observatori d&#8217;Igualtat de Tracte i Oportunitats Spain<\/li>\n<li>Partito della Rifondazione Comunista Italia<\/li>\n<li>positive change service United Kingdom<\/li>\n<li>Public Union &#8220;Clean World&#8221; AID to Women Azerbaijan<\/li>\n<li>Respect United Kingdom<\/li>\n<li>Romanian Women&#8217;s Lobby Romania<\/li>\n<li>Romski centar za \u017eene i decu Serbia<\/li>\n<li>Scottish Rural Action Scotland<\/li>\n<li>Sisters Uncut Manchester United Kingdom<\/li>\n<li>Sitges Voluntaris Socials Spain<\/li>\n<li>Social Intervention for West Athens _Citizens\u2019 Initiative Greece<\/li>\n<li>StoP &#8211; Stadtteile ohne Partnergewalt e.V.\/Prof. Dr. Sabine<\/li>\n<li>St\u00f6vesand Germany<\/li>\n<li>The Drive Partnership UK<\/li>\n<li>The European Network of work with perpetrators WWP EN Germany<\/li>\n<li>The Healing Tree community for Mental Health (Koin.S.Ep\/Social Enterprise) Greece<\/li>\n<li>The House of Women for Empowerement &amp; Emancipation (\u03a4\u03bf \u03a3\u03c0\u03af\u03c4\u03b9 \u03c4\u03c9\u03bd \u0393\u03c5\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9\u03ba\u03ce\u03bd, \u03b3\u03b9\u03b1 \u03c4\u03b7\u03bd \u0395\u03bd\u03b4\u03c5\u03bd\u03ac\u03bc\u03c9\u03c3\u03b7 &amp; \u03c4\u03b7 \u03a7\u03b5\u03b9\u03c1\u03b1\u03c6\u03ad\u03c4\u03b7\u03c3\u03b7) Greece<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;TOMOV&#8221; Women&#8217;s rights association Greece<\/li>\n<li>Toutes Aux Fronti\u00e8res \/groupe suisse Suisse<\/li>\n<li>UMAR &#8211; Uni\u00e3o de Mulheres Alternativa e Resposta (Women&#8217;s Association) Portugal<\/li>\n<li>Una Casa per l&#8217;Uomo Italia<\/li>\n<li>Union of Women Associations of Heraklion Prefect &#8211; \u03a3\u03cd\u03bd\u03b4\u03b5\u03c3\u03bc\u03bf\u03c2 \u039c\u03b5\u03bb\u03ce\u03bd \u0393\u03c5\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9\u03ba\u03b5\u03af\u03c9\u03bd \u03a3\u03c9\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b5\u03af\u03c9\u03bd \u0397\u03c1\u03b1\u03ba\u03bb\u03b5\u03af\u03bf\u03c5 &amp; \u039d\u03bf\u03bc\u03bf\u03cd \u0397\u03c1\u03b1\u03ba\u03bb\u03b5\u03af\u03bf\u03c5 Greece<\/li>\n<li>Unizon Sweden<\/li>\n<li>WAVE Network Europe<\/li>\n<li>Women Center &#8220;Light Steps&#8221; Albania<\/li>\n<li>Women\u2019s Law Center Republic of Moldova<\/li>\n<li>Women&#8217;s Aid Federation of England United Kingdom<\/li>\n<li>Women&#8217;s Law Center Republic of Moldova<\/li>\n<li>Women&#8217;s Support and Information Centre NPO Estonia<\/li>\n<li>Xarxa Europea d Dones Periodistes Spain<\/li>\n<li>YWCA of Greece (XEN \u0395\u03bb\u03bb\u03ac\u03b4\u03bf\u03c2) Greece<\/li>\n<li>Z\u00e9romacho &#8211; des hommes contre la prostitution et pour l&#8217;\u00e9galit\u00e9 France<\/li>\n<li>Zukunftskonvent Germany Germany<\/li>\n<li>\u0393\u03c1\u03b1\u03bc\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b5\u03af\u03b1 \u0399\u03c3\u03cc\u03c4\u03b7\u03c4\u03b1\u03c2 \u039f\u03a4\u039f\u0395 Greece<\/li>\n<li>\u0394\u03ae\u03bc\u03bf\u03c2 \u039c\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03bc\u03cc\u03c1\u03c6\u03c9\u03c3\u03b7\u03c2 Greece<\/li>\n<li>\u0388\u03bd\u03c9\u03c3\u03b7 \u0391\u03bc\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u03ba\u03b1\u03bd\u03af\u03b4\u03c9\u03bd \u0395\u03bb\u03bb\u03ac\u03b4\u03bf\u03c2, Greece<\/li>\n<li>\u0398\u03c1\u03c5\u03b1\u03bb\u03bb\u03af\u03b4\u03b1 \u03a3\u03cd\u03bb\u03bb\u03bf\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2 \u039a\u03bf\u03b9\u03bd\u03c9\u03bd\u03b9\u03ba\u03ae\u03c2 \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9 \u03a0\u03bf\u03bb\u03b9\u03c4\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u03ae\u03c2 \u03a0\u03b1\u03c1\u03ad\u03bc\u03b2\u03b1\u03c3\u03b7\u03c2, Greece<\/li>\n<li>\u039a\u03ad\u03bd\u03c4\u03c1\u03bf \u0394\u03b9\u03bf\u03c4\u03af\u03bc\u03b1 Greece<\/li>\n<li>\u039a\u03ad\u03bd\u03c4\u03c1\u03bf \u03a3\u03c5\u03bc\u03b2\u03bf\u03c5\u03bb\u03b5\u03c5\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u03ae\u03c2 \u03a5\u03c0\u03bf\u03c3\u03c4\u03ae\u03c1\u03b9\u03be\u03b7\u03c2 \u0393\u03c5\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9\u03ba\u03ce\u03bd \u0394\u03ae\u03bc\u03bf\u03c5 \u0392\u03ad\u03c1\u03bf\u03b9\u03b1\u03c2, Greece<\/li>\n<li>\u039e\u03b5\u03bd\u03ce\u03bd\u03b1\u03c2 \u03a6\u03b9\u03bb\u03bf\u03be\u03b5\u03bd\u03af\u03b1\u03c2 \u0393\u03c5\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9\u03ba\u03ce\u03bd \u0394\u03ae\u03bc\u03bf\u03c5 \u039b\u03b1\u03bc\u03b9\u03ad\u03c9\u03bd, Greece<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>81 Civil Society organizations from Greece and abroad co-sign a joint letter for the co-custody bill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13494,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[867],"tags":[1146],"class_list":["post-13498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases","tag-emfyla-dikaiomata-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diotima.org.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diotima.org.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diotima.org.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diotima.org.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diotima.org.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13498"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/diotima.org.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44403,"href":"https:\/\/diotima.org.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13498\/revisions\/44403"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diotima.org.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diotima.org.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diotima.org.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diotima.org.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}