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Police in Cyprus received 18,409 reports of violence against women between 2021 and the first half of 2026, according to official data presented to parliament on Monday.
Chief of Police Themistos Arnoutis disclosed the figures during a House Human Rights Committee session centered on a review of domestic violence laws and the implementation of the Istanbul Convention, a regional treaty dedicated to preventing violence against women.
The data shows that authorities made 3,674 arrests during this five-and-a-half-year period. The judiciary issued 2,858 exclusion orders to remove abusers from shared residences and granted 373 protection orders to safeguard victims.
Institutional deficiencies acknowledged
The parliamentary review followed recent domestic femicides, prompting officials to focus on state emergency protocols. Justice Minister Kostas Fytiris addressed systemic communication breakdowns, admitting that critical coordination gaps between public agencies persist years after the initial warnings.
"We will focus heavily on the individual who receives the initial information, where they pass it, and how a permanent action team is activated," Fytiris said. He promised new strategies to improve initial response times and handle incoming emergencies immediately.
To illustrate the immediacy of the problem, Fytiris shared that a woman contacted him directly through a social media messaging application on Monday morning to report threats from her former husband. The minister said he routed the message directly to specialized police units for action.
The state response also faces scrutiny regarding firearm regulations. Fytiris announced that the ministry and police command plan to introduce legislative amendments requiring mandatory psychometric evaluations for police officers authorized to carry weapons.
High demand for support services
Non-governmental organizations reported heavy pressure on existing safety nets. Antri Andronikou, president of the Association for the Prevention and Handling of Violence in the Family (SPAVO), provided data on emergency operations.
Throughout 2025, the national domestic violence helpline handled an average of 110 calls each month, with an additional 20 monthly requests arriving via text messages, emails, and live text chats.
The "Woman’s House" facility managed 374 cases over the course of 2025, averaging 31 victims per month. Furthermore, SPAVO shelters accommodated an average of 64 individuals monthly, consisting of 30 women and 34 children. Andronikou pointed to international protocols, including mandatory risk assessments and routine reviews for all licensed firearm owners, as necessary steps for Cyprus.
Parliamentary push for timelines
Committee Chairman and AKEL MP Christos Christofides stated that the committee expects a complete registry of pending legislative adjustments from the Justice Ministry, alongside concrete dates for implementation.
Christofides stated that cultural assumptions regarding ownership over women form the root of the problem. He criticized the fact that the "Woman’s House" model has not expanded to other districts seven years after its inception. The committee plans to reconvene at the end of August or early September to demand specific progress reports from officials. Representatives from the Education Ministry will also face questioning regarding preventative curriculum designs in schools.
Lawmakers from other political groups supported the call for structural synchronization. DISY MP Dimos Georgiades noted that while adequate laws exist on paper, the state must prioritize interconnected databases to stop future attacks. ALMA movement MP Litsa Drousiotou questioned whether psychometric testing for officers would occur every three or five years and requested data regarding past emergency complaints that ultimately ended in fatalities.
