The problem of domestic violence in Greece is getting worse. In the last year alone, the number of reports to the police and aid organizations has increased by over 80%. And increasingly, elderly women are becoming victims of domestic violence, police say.
"He hit me in front of our daughter"
Anastasia Tsalkitsoglu is one of them. She was abused by her husband physically and emotionally for decades - practically throughout their entire marriage, until his death.
"The worst thing was that he hit me in front of our daughter. It's really terrible. As she got older, the violence became verbal. He insulted and humiliated me," says the retired teacher.
Anastasia is 69 years old, but she is only now gathering the courage to speak out. She tells radio journalist Teodora Karakölu how she became a victim of the traditional male-dominated society. On her platform, Karakölu regularly gives the floor to women who fear for their lives.
"There are many women who spend their entire lives with an abuser - a man who beats them from the moment they meet... There are many such women. But people of my generation, unfortunately, often do not pay attention to these women and the circumstances in which they live. This happens, although there are such cases in our own families or in friendly ones - when people married not out of love, but because they were forced to do so."
Being forced to live with an abuser
According to reports by human rights organizations, domestic violence against women intensifies either when financial or social difficulties arise, or if the woman refuses to accept the role of a subordinate.
The statistics are shocking. In recent years, more and more women over 60 in Greece have lost their lives after being assaulted by husbands, sons or other relatives. But why don't older women leave their tormentors before the worst happens?
"A woman my age is forced to feel inferior without a man. That's how we were raised. If you want to get a divorce, they consider you a slut, and the woman is always to blame for the breakup, not the man," Anastasia Tsalkitsoglu tells DW.
Social worker Vaso Theodosiou from Thessaloniki, northern Greece, regularly organizes meetings with women to inform them about the support that victims of domestic violence can receive. Many of the attendees have had bad experiences and the topic is not foreign to them at all.
"My neighbor is being beaten by her husband because he drinks. She cries for help, but I am afraid to go because you never know how a drunk person will react. When I tell her to seek help, she replies: "If he finds out, he will start treating me even worse," says one of the women who came to listen to Theodosiou. Another attendee is interested in what can be done if a woman is being abused at home by a man with a mental illness, and she puts up with all this because she doesn't want to leave him.
The courage to stand up and speak out
The social worker from Thessaloniki says that women in this age group often do not realize the extent of the violence they are subjected to. Moreover, they often hear others tell them: "You are just an old woman". Despite this, there has been a significant increase in the number of elderly women seeking help, Theodosiou assures.
In recent years, more and more Greek women have found the courage to speak openly about their problems, and the Greek government has given signals that it wants to improve the protection of elderly women. However, the authorities refused to speak on the subject to DW.
Officials in Thessaloniki seem more responsive. The city's deputy mayor, Efthymios Xatsiteoklitos, names one of the main problems - the lack of sufficient funds for the prevention of domestic violence. It is especially difficult to help women who are abused by their sons, he adds: "A mother will hardly find the strength to go to the police and complain about her son who is taking drugs. She will do everything she can to help him, even though he is beating her."
Anastasia Tsalkitsoglu did not have the courage to do it either: "Now that I live alone, I realize that I have been addicted all these years. But I could not just leave the man I have been with since he was 18."
Today, Anastasia shows her face. She wants to talk about the violence that so many women like her experience every day.
Author: Gunnar Köhne