Sexual abuse complaints hit double digits

Police say over ten official complaints involving sexual abuse allegations were under investigation, as one case after the other came forward in Cyprus’ own MeToo movement.

According to police spokesperson Christos Andreou, complaints received by law enforcement authorities were “definitely on the rise” following the first official complaint.

“After media attention on the first complaint, there was an increase of complaints having to do with sexual harassment and we are investigating over ten such cases,” Andreou said.

In what could be described as Cyprus’ #MeToo movement, case after case has been making headlines on the island after four female athletes accused their coach of sexual harassment.

A recent case involves allegations by a woman who says a male priest tried to rape her when she was 16 years old, while the same man, described by local media as a former bishop, is also being accused by at least one other female of similar offences.

Sexual abuse allegations have also been filed against an elected politician as well as a well-known doctor, while reports said police have also received two sexual harassment complaints in the workplace that were unrelated to cases in the media.